Stricken
by it'scurtainsforyou
Summary: Andri had been living somewhat normally. But then one day, it all changed. Now she has to hunt down and learn from the only man who can help her, her father.
1. Chapter 1

My mother had been a normal person, raising me in Cleveland, Ohio by herself. She loved me unconditionally, told me she always would. When I was little, she always made sure that I was careful when I played with the other kids on my block.

"Don't throw the snowballs hard," she'd say before I would head outside for a neighborhood snowball fight in the winter.

"Don't give soccer all that you have," she would warn before I would go to one of my childhood soccer tournaments.

I never listened to her. I always thought that her telling me to hold back was her way of telling me to let people boss me around. I rebelled. I threw and kicked and worked as hard as I could. I always had to prove her wrong. I had to make her know that I was stronger than she knew, that I could take care of myself and then some. I gave my all to my kick boxing classes. I had to prove her wrong. I had to. I'd come home sweaty and tired from class and school with my hazel eyes still on fire, despite how tired and worn out I felt, and I'd look at her in a way that told her I was right.

She'd just smile when she saw me, shake her head. "Just like your father," she would say, and then tell me to go drink some milk and eat something healthy and watch CSI with her. I never said I hated my mother. I just said I enjoyed proving that I was right when it came to my strengths. I strong for my age, but nothing weird or out of the oridinary like my mother seemed to be anticipating.

When I was fourteen, bordering on fifteen, things changed, though, because I found out that my mother had been right all along.

It had been after my first homecoming dance, my freshman year. I stumbled out of the gym, hot, sweaty, and dizzy. Crowds often did that to me. I took a deep breath of the cold fall air and sighed, grateful for the fresh air.

"Well hey there, pretty girl," some one murmured behind me. My slender 5'7 frame whirled around in surprise. It was Jack.

"Oh, hi," I said, grinning at my crush. But then I winced, smelled the air. "You been drinking?"

"A little," he said like it was no big deal. But for me to smell it on his skin was a big deal. It meant he'd been drinking way more than he was supposed to. Not that he was legally supposed to at all, but you get my point. "You feel like going under the bleachers?" Jack was straightforward, at least. I shook my head.

"No thanks. I'm gonna stay out here. Get some air."

"Aw come on, Andri," he crooned, slurring my name. I took a step away from him.

"No thanks," I repeated.

"You know you want to."

"Look, douche bag, I said no," I replied, getting angrier. I had liked Jack for his good looks. He wasn't used to getting turned down. He grabbed my wrist and looked at me.

"Don't be a bitch, Andri. Be a big girl and come on," he said, starting to drag me towards the bleachers. My anger roared.

"Get off me," I ordered. "Get off me before I kick your ass!"

"Pfft, like you could do that. Look a you. What do you weigh? Ninty pounds tops?" he said, looking at me in my black homecoming dress and heels. "You couldn't take down a toddler, honey. What makes you think you can take me down? I'm the freaking Judo captain."

There it went again. Some one saying I couldn't do something. It had the same effect as my mother's warnings and pleads to hold my strength back, only this insult, this saying I couldn't do shit, got to me deeper than any of my mother's comments ever had.

"True," I said, like his statement didn't bother me. He started to drag me again, like I was giving in. I would never give in. I glared at his head and launched my attack when he was hopefully least expecting it. "But you're not me."

And then I socked him in the face with all my might, putting my entire body into the punch like I learned how to from years of kick boxing class. I punched his jaw once, with all the sudden anger and hate I felt towards him and his stupid arroagance. It was supposed to just shock him, maybe hurt. It was supposed to make him let go so I could go inside and stay there until I knew he was gone.

But that wasn't exactly how it went down.

His grip was ripped from my arm as he went flying through the parking lot and into a Chevy truck, leaving a dent in it and setting off the car alarm that no one would hear over the loud music inside. His head and mouth were bleeding, but I didn't care. I swaggered over like I was the hottest bitch this side of where-ever the hell Angelina Jolie lived, standing in front of him. He looked up at me. Several of his teeth were missing. I doubted he'd ever be good-looking again.

"H-how?" he wondered. For a minute, I looked down at him like he was the most pathetic little bitch on the planet, which he was.

But then it hit me when a girl came outside to sneak a smoke.

"OH MY GOD!" a girl screamed. I whirled around. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM, YOU FREAK?!"

I looked down at him. Bleeding, coughing, broken jaw. I looked at my hands, frozen for a minute. My mother had been right.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU MONSTER! OH MY GOD! CALL 911! SOMEBODY!"

_Freak...Monster..._

I ran all three miles home without stopping. My feet left dents in the cement.


	2. Chapter 2

"Pack your warmer clothes," Mom told me as we threw stuff into the lone duffle bag I owned. "for all I know, you could end up in Alaska."

"Okay," I said, throwing hoodies and a few pairs of jeans into the bag. Mom refolded everything. "So I have to go talk to Uncle Remy?"

My uncle, Remy, was a mysterious but familiar man. He visited twleve times every year, almost once a month. He usually hung around for a day, maybe two. His longest stays were usually around Christmas when he said 'bussiness was a tad slow'. He was Cajun, and had been teaching me how to swear in French since I came out of the womb. Instead of my father being there during the birth, Remy had been there, watching my mother's labor in absolute horror but standing by my mom nonetheless. My birth, from what I had learned from watching the home video we had of it, had been thirteen hours of French cursing, my mother swearing like a sailor and threatening to castrate every man in the room, and finally, my mom crying because she was so happy as she held me in her arms and kept saying that I was going to have my daddy's eyes and hair.

The first thing out of Remy's mouth when he saw me was a little less... comforting, to my mother.

"Dieu. She looks like a peanut."

Remy got his ass beaten that night. Kinetic energy can only save your ass from so many things in this world. A hormonal hell-bent woman who just gave birth is not one of them.

"He should know where your father is," Mom said, nodding. "There's a train that'll take you out to New Orleans in two hours. I just booked it online a few minutes ago."

I'd never been so happy to have the mother I did. My mother understood that I couldn't deal with this newfound strength on my own, let alone here. She had a job here, and it was her home. I understood that she didn't want to leave. But I could tell that it was tearing her up that her baby was leaving. I felt bad, at first, but I knew I could take care of myself. I had made this happen. I was the one who punched Jack in the face and made him bleed. I was the one who drew blood, and I was going to be the one to take the blame.

"Your father should be able to help you," Mom said, "but there are a few things you should know."

"Okay," I said, sitting down to listen. Mom paced.

"Your father... doesn't exactly know that I was pregnant when he left," she said. "So, really, he doesn't know he has a daughter with mutant strength, or a child at all, for that matter."

"Wonderful," I said. Mom sighed.

"He probably won't believe you at first, either. He's stubborn as hell, just like you. If you can manage it, get Remy to go with you. It shouldn't take much effort to convince him to come. Even if you have incredible strength now, Remy still sees you as a little peanut wrapped in a hospital blanket."

"Okay."

"Plus having a theif in this sort of situation never killed anyone," she rambled. I looked at her.

"Mom, focus."

"Right, right. Sorry, sweetie. I'm just stressed out right now," she said, sitting next to me. "Now, knowing Logan, just telling him straight up that you're his kid won't do it. If all else fails. If even Remy can't convince him, you look him dead in the eye and ask him if Josie would ever lie to him. That should get his attention, at the very least."

"Right," I said. "But what if I don't have the guts to do that?"

My mom looked at me, holding her face in my hands. "If you don't have the guts to do that, honey, you aren't Logan's kid, after all."

* * *

The train ride was long, but I made it to New Orleans by early morning. I stripped out of my Ohio clothes in the bathroom and swapped my sweater for a favorite combo of mine, a simplistic white V-neck tee and a gray cami underneath. The black skinny jeans stayed, along with my red Converse all stars. I tied my hair up before I walked out into the early New Orleans' sun.

I caught the bus to the Guild. Remy liked to pretend he hadn't taught me how to pick his locks, because he was a master thief. I let the 'old man''s heard rest and knocked instead of picking the lock. A tired looking black man opened the door.

"Who you?" he slurred, looking at me oddily. I didn't blame him. If a skinny white chick barely legal to drive showed up a master theif's house, I'd wonder, too.

"Andraste. Tell Remy that Peanut's here," I said, smiling slightly. The black man nodded tiredly and shouted something in French to the people behind him. Thanks to Remy, I could pick out the swears in his shouts. The people behind him scattered without a sound. Within a second, there was a string of curses and a loud clunk. I knew from experience that my 'uncle' Remy was never a graceful person in the morning.

"What? What do you want?!" he asked loudly, obviously pissed off and still sleepy, since he hadn't realized it was me. I looked at him, duffle bag slung over my arm.

"So much for southern hospitality. Where I'm from, we let you stay for free," I teased. He squinted his crimson eyes at me. I smiled back.

"PEANUT!" Remy exclaimed loudly, obviously not expecting my visit. "What the hell you doin' here by your lonesome?" he asked, guiding me into the large mansion and slinging his arm around my shoulders. "Jesus, Peanut, why didn't you call, chere?"

"There was a... sudden development," I said, struggling to find the right words. He looked at me.

"What kind of... development?" he asked quietly, a man handing him a glass of orange juice.

"The kind my mother always thought would happen, Rems." I looked at him in all seriousness. "It happened."

"What do you mean? You didnt' do somethin' stupid wit' no boy, did y'all? Oh merde, I gotta kill some one, don't I?"

"No, Remy, it's nothing like that," I assured. "Though that is invovled somewhat."

"So I do have to kill some one?"

"No, I got that covered," I said. Remy snorted.

"Right. You may be able to kick box, petite, but you sure as hell can't kill any-un."

"Remy, I'm serious. The guys' in a coma."

"Pfft," Remy said, waving his hand. I grabbed the closests thing to me. It happened to be a knife.

"Rems, watch," I ordered. I threw the knife as hard as I could at the wall. It went completely through, and we heard it sink into the wall of a room three rooms over. He shrugged.

"I've got a couple of guys who can do that."

"Rems, God, I didn't want to have to do this," I said, shaking my head. I punched the counter.

It cracked in half. It was pure granite. Remy spit out his orange juice.

"Merde," he swore. "Shit! How did you-" he stopped midsentence. "Ta mere, she was right."

I nodded.

"Why did she send you here?" he asked, taking another swig of OJ.

"So that I could find Logan," I said. Remy spit out his orange juice.

Again.

"Fucking hell!" he swore in French. "Logan doesn't even know he _has _a child. Dieu!"

"Yeah, I'm aware," I said. I broke off a large corner of the granite with my fingers. Luckily, Remy was too busy swearing to see that I did. I looked around and threw it behind me. It some guy in the head. He hit the floor, out cold. I winced.

"Sorry," I mouthed before Remy regained my attention.

"What the hell does she think I'll do?" he asked, running a hand over his face. Obviously, it was around that time in the morning that Remy returned to being a calm and collected master thief.

"Just tell me where he is. You don't even have to come with me," I offered. Even though my mom told me to bring him with me, it seemed like a lot to ask of him.

"I know he's in New York. Xavier's, je pense."

I raised an eyebrow. Remy sighed.

"It's a school for mutants. It would be a good place for y'all to turn to, if Logan's there or not."

"Okay, cool. New York it is," I said, turning towards the door. Remy gripped my arm.

"Not so fast, Peanut. Si tu penses-"

"I only understand so much French, Rems."

"If you think you're going alone, you're mistaken."


	3. Chapter 3

"Your father is going to kill me," Remy declared as he drove like he was in the Dayton 500. I was almost too busy clutching the door and trying not to puke to hear him. The black Ferrari rounded another corner violently. My stomach churned.

"I don't think he will," I managed to say through clenched teeth. "At least, not if I'm present and accounted for-"

"Logan does not hit women, so y'all got nothin't worry 'bout. However, Logan _mames _men, often without reason," Remy said, "and this time, he got a reason. Dieu, he's going to murder me."

"No, he won't, Remy. I can make sure of that," I said, looking at him.

"Tu ne comprendes pas," he said, glaring ahead the winding New York road. "Tu ne sais pas ton pere."

"I know my father enough to know that I can stop him," I said. "I'm not saying he won't be mad. I'm saying that if he touches you, him being my father or not, I'm kicking his ass. He may be a mutant, but so am I. I could take him."

"Y'all could take a man with knife-sharp, unbreakable claws and a metal skeleton and a massive healin' mutation that allows him to survive anythin' but gettin' his head torn off, down? Je ne pense pas, chere. I can't even take him down."

"Rems, no offense, but you got your ass beaten by my mother. Knowing that makes it extremely hard picturing you as some sort of kick-ass fighter," I admitted. Never in my life had I seen Remy really give his all to a fight. I'd never seen him swing his fist, only flick a few glowing cards. Remy shook his head.

"Toi, tu ne ecoutes pas!" Remy said, looking away from the road to glare at me. "I raised you, so you listen good, Andraste Etienne. Logan ain't gotta clue that he's got kin, let alone kin with powers that could possibly rival his own. We still have no idea if y'all have his healin' shit yet. I've known him for fifteen years, borderin' on sixteen. Merde, Andraste, he has no idea you exsist, and I could have told him at any freakin' time! Do you understand how that looks? I'm his goddamned best friend, and I ain't never told him that I was raisin' you, when your mere wasn't raisin' you by her lonesome! Merde!" Remy cursed, turning back to the road. "Y'all got no idea how bad this is. He gonna kill me, and he gonna kill me good."

I stayed quiet for awhile, the only noise filling the space between Remy and I was the engine purring as he sped down the road like he owned it.

"I'll still kick his ass if he touches you."

* * *

Xavier's was a nice school. The first thing I saw when Remy finally slowed the car and pulled into a large garage was a beautiful garden surrounding an old looking mansion. The garage was packed with nice cars, bikes, skateboards, and a few motorcycles. Remy looked at one specifically.

"He's here," Remy said, wincing. I guessed that he had been hoping that he wasn't. I understood, in a sense. If I was Remy, I would have been a tad bit scared of Logan, too. From what I gathered, Remy and Logan were tight friends. I was a little confused as to how they met, but that wasn't important.

"Get behind me," Remy ordered, black leather coat swirling behind him as we rounded a corner, walking into a long hallway.

"Forget it," I replied, straightening my back and speeding up my stride to match his. He looked at me, eyes flashing like stop signs.

"Girl, get behind me before-"

"Before, what? You hit me?" I challenged. "You can't send me back to Josie, either, 'cause she doesn't have a clue 'bout what to do with me. You're either stuck with me next to you now or stuck with me living in your house until the day that one of of us croaks."

Remy's eyes flared.

"Don't you give me no attitude, Andraste. I'm the closest damn thing you ever had to a father until now. Don't think that the situation gives you any rights to bein' sassy, girl," Remy warned. I got behind him, trailing behind his expensive looking coat. I glared at his shoulders, but kept my anger inside. Remy was right: I wasn't really in a position to give him sass.

Ebony wood made up the place. Expensive paintings and books and furniture made it fancy, but oddly homey. Xavier's was a place I could see myself getting used to, at the very least. Remy and I climbed two flights of stairs, and then continued to storm the halls. It was awkward, because I'd forgotten that this place was a school. Kids from all ages watched in confusion as Remy lead me to wherever. I was using baby steps. The last thing this place needed was dents and scratches in their hardwood floors. Remy sent the doors flying of the last door at the end of the hallway flying open with his powers. Wind gusted past me, blowing my hair back from my upper arms. A woman with white hair sat at a desk, scribbling on a paper. She looked up, only acutely startled. She grinned at Remy.

"Gambit, been a long time," she said, getting up from a desk. He grinned back.

"Hey, Storm, how you been doin', chere?" He opened his arms and she hugged him, her eyes closed.

"I've been good. Why are you so tense?" she asked. Remy's face, from what I could see, fell into a serious one. She tensed. "What's wrong?"

"Well, ain't much wrong," Remy started. Storm shook her head.

"What did you do, Remy?"

"I didn't do a damn thing!" Remy defended. "It's Logan who couldn't keep it in his pants!"

"What do you mean?" Storm asked, obviously confused. Remy stepped aside, and revealed me.

Storm gaped.

"Oh my God," she said. "Is that-?"

"It don't take a genius, Storm. Just look at her," Remy said. Storm gasped.

"Oh My God, it is! Logan has a kid?!" she practically shouted, shocked. Remy nodded his head.

"Andraste Etienne Jones," Remy said. He nodded to me. "Y'all know you can talk, vraiment?"

"Now I do," I said. I looked at Storm, unsure of her. "Are you going to stare at me like that all day or are you actually going to attempt words with more than two sylabbles?"

"Yep, she's Logan's all right," Storm muttered, but grinned at me. "Sit down, Andraste, sit down!"

"It's Andri," I insisted. She nodded. I sat down on the couch. I had the urge to grip the cushion. I decided against it, considering I'd probably tear it.

"Right, right," Storm said, still staring at me. "Oh my God. Logan has a kid."

"Yep. Here I am, in the flesh," I said sarcastically. Remy smacked me upside the head. It barely hurt, because Remy would never intentionally hurt me, even if I was being sassy. I said ow anyway.

"Serves you right. You give her the respect she deserves, you hear?"

"Yes," I said, anger spiking slightly. Storm chuckled.

"Oh yeah, she's _definitely _Logan's. Look at the fire in her eyes," Storm said, looking at my eyes. "She's got his eyes, too. Does she-?"

"I don't know yet," Remy admitted. "But she does have something else. Like him. Show her, Andri."

"With what?" I said. "I don't want to break the wall..."

"What exactly does she have?" Storm asked, looking a bit worried about my worry of breaking walls. Remy smirked.

"Just wait. Here," he said, tossing me his stick. "It's adamantium. Break it."

"Are you kidding?" Storm was absolutely worried. "She'll break her own bones before she breaks that thing. Look at her, she's tiny."

Once again, that managed to make me snap.

"I can do it," I bit out, grabbing the stick and slamming it down on my thigh. It snapped in half, tore my jeans and the skin underneath. It stung like a bitch. I hissed.

"She did it," Storm gaped, stunned. Then she looked at my leg, which was bleeding like hell. But the bleeding suddenly slowed, then stopped all together. I looked at it, too freaked out to do anything else. The cut healed within in seconds. The only thing left that might make you think that I cut myself was the tears in my jeans. I looked at Remy.

"IS THAT NORMAL?" I asked. He smirked.

"Well, for you and your father, it is," he mused. "Naturally, it ain't for the average Joe."

"Didn't think so," I said, gaping. Storm looked at me, the two pieces of adamantium in my hands, and then she looked at Remy.

"Does he know?"

"He has no idea," Remy admitted uneasily. Storm swore in a lanugage I did not understand. He grinned. "Exactly what I thought when I found out I was takin' her to find him. Josie knew she couldn't keep her in Cleveland. Dieu. She put a guy in a coma. That's how she found out."

"Should I call him up?" Storm wondered out loud, obviously stressed. Remy sighed.

"You sure as hell can't let her walk 'roun' school without tellin' him. It don't take no genius to figure out that she's his kin. He'll know almost right away. So will everyone else."

"Right," Storm said, ringing her hands. The weather outside went from sunny with clouds to swirling, nervous thundering storm clouds almost the color of ink.

"Storm," Remy said, "you're makin' a lot o' weather folk nervous out there, chere."

"Ah, sorry," she said, the weather changed back. I looked at her in amazement.

"She can-"

"We know, chere. You get used to it," Remy soothed, placing a hand on my shoulder. Storm picked up her phone, dialed like a madwoman.

"Yeah, Jubilee? Get Logan up here. Now... I don't care if you're in the middle of a freaking nuclear holocaust, get his ass up here now! It's important!"

There was mumbling on the other line, and then Storm sighed.

"Thanks. Hm? No, no, I'm fine. Just a bit stressed right now. You'll find out soon enough," she told the... whoever, that was on the phone, then hung up. She went back to ringing her hands again. "He'll be up in second."

"This should be fun," I said, nervousness eating away at my internal organs. Remy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You got no idea, chere."


	4. Chapter 4

My heart was hammering my ribcage, and I could feel Remy's eratic heartrate from his arms around my shoulders. Storm was pacing.

"This is bad," she murmured.

"Pas merde," Remy shot back. Storm blinked at him. Remy sighed.

"I'm sorry, Storm. Stress."

"Understandble," Storm replied, went back to pacing, ringing her hands. I felt sick and jittery in Remy's hold. I didn't know whether he was holding me for comfort or to make sure I wouldn't run. Either way, it was a smart move on his part. I tugged the sleeves of my hoodie over my hands, clutching them but not moving my hands. I didn't want to rip my favorite sweatshirt.

"Oh God he's coming," Storm said, her pacing stopped. Remy was chewing his fingernails, a nasty habit he had managed to pass on to me. I mimicked his actions as he stepped in front of me, broad shoulders and long coat hiding my lean 5'7 frame.

"He gonna kill me," Remy breathed. "He gonna kill me. He gonna kill me. He gonna _kill _me-"

"Remy, we talked about this in the car," I said, trying to be stronger. It was just my father. A father who was never there for me or my mother. If he touched the closest thing I had to an acutal father figure in my life, I'd kick his ass. No hesitations. I could heal, just like him. I could break his claws, just like I broke Remy's stick. First one to rip the other's head off would win.

Simple enough. I was never one for a lot of rules, anyway.

"So, what's the emergency?" a man asked, strolling into the room. He had my eyes, firey dark hazel, and my hair, thick brown. My hair actually wasn't that much like his own other than the thickness. My brown had too many differing shades in it to be one solid brown like his. He stood at a lean but very muscular 6'2. Well, at least now I understood where I got my height from. Mom was barely 5'5. He had a strong, symmetrical nose, noticeble but not over-bearing cheekbones, and his forehead did the same thing as mine when I was confused, only in a way more manly way. He had his hair styled back and up, and he had mutton chops, but I would forgive him for that. Maybe.

"Remy!" he exclaimed in his deep set voice, swaggering over. "You the emergency?" he joked.

"You could say que..." Remy said, using his poker face. Logan, apparently, knew better.

"What's wrong with you?" Logan asked, nodding his head at Remy. "I don't have to help kill nobody, do I?"

"No, but killing some one might be what you want to do," Remy muttered in French. I was biting my nails like a mad woman.

"What?" Logan asked, obviously not comprehending. Then he looked at Storm. Too bad Storm was getting the stick I broke off of the couch. "What the hell did you do, Remy? That was adamantium. How the hell could you break that thing?"

"I didn't break it, homme," Remy started nervously. Logan looked at him quizzically.

"Then what the hell did?"

"Well, tu vois-"

"I did," I said, stepping out from behind Remy. Logan raised his eyebrows at me, stopped solid, freezing. Still staring into my eyes, he opened his mouth.

"Remy, who is this?"

"Andraste Etienne Jones," I said before Remy got a chance. Logan looked at me in disbelief.

"Did you say Andraste?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Andri for short." Logan's eyes widened. He looked at my face.

"No way," he said. "There is no fucking way!"

"Logan," Remy started. Logan whirled around to him.

"Is she-?"

"Yeah, I am," I said as casually as I could. Logan's eyes flared.

"And you never told me?!" Logan shouted at Remy. Remy looked at him helplessly.

"I would have, Logan, but she tried to tell you before you left! And then I was so busy helping her with Andraste and-"

"What?!" Logan roared. "You never told me _and _you were raising _my _kid?!"

"Well you weren't there!" I shot at him. He stopped and looked at me. "What the hell was Remy supposed to do, let Josie raise me on her own working two jobs?"

"I didn't have any options, Logan," Remy tried. Logan glared at him.

"You could have told me anytime and I would have come back to her!" he shouted. I stepped in front of Remy.

"Either way it doesn't matter right now!" Storm shouted. We all looked at her. "She's staying here. Her mother sent her after you for a reason, Logan."

"And why would that be?" he demanded, looking at me warily.

"So she could learn how to control her mutation," Storm said simply, eerily calm now. She changed like the weather, but I guessed that was kind of a given. "Did you not hear her, Logan? Look at this thing," Storm demanded, throwing him the pieces of the adamantium pole. He caught it with animalistic grace, weighed it in his hands. He looked at me and shook his head.

"I don't believe it. I don't believe anything right now."

"I did it," I said. Logan looked at me.

"Yeah right, like you could."

That was freaking _it._

"Logan, je ne pense pas que-"

"That's it!" I said. "You want proof, asshole, I'll give you proof!"

And I launched myself at him. He stumbled, not expecting a skinny white girl to tackle him out of the blue, let alone with the strength I had. We flew through the window, over the balcony. We crashed into the garden below. I held down his arms, straddled him as I glared. He looked at me in shock for a minute before he smirked. There was a sound of metal and then pain radiated through my body, my arm bleeding like hell as metal claws almost chopped it off. I sceamed in pain, jumping off. I held my arm, glaring. Logan got up, smirking.

"So what? You can tackle me off a balcony. Big whoop," he said. I let go off my arm as the healing started. His eyes widened. "No fucking way in hell-"

"Logan, I swear to God, if you hurt her!" Remy shouted, running outside.

"I'm your biological daughter. We've been over this," I said, glaring. "Do you believe me now?"

When Logan stayed silent, still staring at my arm. I took that as a yes.


	5. Chapter 5

This had to be the most awkward thing I'd ever done in my life; sitting with Logan and eating dinner. Remy sat with us, of course, but it didn't help much. Logan was either staring at me like he didn't know what to do with me, or giving Remy death glares that should have put him seventy feet under. Twenty minutes went by without a word spoken on either side.

I wouldn't have been able to cut the tension with a freaking chainsaw.

My Ipod was playing System of a Down, making it just a little less uncomfortable for me, but just barely. It irked me, how much I was like Logan. My mother had been right, I was my father's daughter. We glared the same way, ate almost the same way, and acted the same way when we were in an environment we were uncomfortable in, a way that most people would consider to be intimidating.

"Donc," Remy said finally. Logan and I looked at him. Remy might have been a good talker when it came to talking himself out of owing money or sweet-talking the ladies, but Remy absolutely sucked with words in awkward situations like these. "Storm is making your schedule for school, Peanut."

"Good," I said. I tried to look positively at it. After all, what else did I have? I couldn't go back to school in Cleveland. I was stuck here with Logan. If there was one thing that differed me from Logan, it was my mother's sense of dealing with what was placed in front of you. I wasn't going to let my guard down, at least not until Logan did the same, but I would attempt to make this work, even if it meant tackling him out of a freaking window again. "What classes am I signed up for?"

"Did you just call my child, Peanut?" Logan asked, looking at Remy with a sort of amused/angered look. Remy nodded. The conversation, however somewhat awkward it was by itself, was slowly melting away the tension surrounding us.

"Ouai. It's been Andri's nickname since her birth," Remy explained. "Trust me, homme, it got Remy an ass-kick he ain't gonna forget from Josie," Remy said. "Crazy bitch," he muttered in French, laughing. I grinned. I had to call her. I figured that I'd call her up once I got a room. "Anyway, Andri, I only signed y'all up for the classes I knew y'all had to take: les maths, les sciences, l'anglais, et l'histoire. Et, puis, le francais."

I groaned, "French?!"

"Y'all know it," Remy grinned. "And guess who's teachin'?"

"Storm?" I wondered.

"A logical guess," Remy admitted before flashing a toothy grin. "Mais, c'est moi."

"You?" Logan and I asked at the same time, our faces probably prices. Remy laughed.

"Oui," Remy said. I shook my head.

"I'm going to have to break necks to keep the women here away from you," I muttered. Remy and Logan raised their eyebrows at the same time, looking at each other. Logan chuckled.

"If anyone's gonna be breakin' necks, kid, it's gonna be Remy and me. You looked behind you?"

"No, why?" I asked, whirling around. Remy laughed.

"Chere, you couldn'ta thought that we were glarin' at each other the entire time," Remy said, shaking his head. "Xavier's used to new kids, chere, but you seem to be peakin' every boys' interest."

It seemed to be true. As my eyes scanned the room, a good number of boys were looking at me. Girls were whispering, too.

"That's Logan's kid. A looker, isn't she?" one of the guys whispered. My eyes flew to the voice. He grinned at me, but then his face fell. I looked behind me and Logan was glaring, holding his knife in a very intimidating way, considering that it was embedded in the table. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Protective?"

"As hell," he replied, yanking the steak knife out of the table. "I might have only known you for a few hours, kid, but you're _my_ kid, and no boy here, or anywhere else, touches _my_ daughter."

And people used to think I was possessively protective of my friends. Well, at least now I knew where it came from.

"Agreed," Remy said aggressively. Logan looked at him. Remy stared back. "Don't start, homme. I raised the girl."

"He's got a point," I told Logan. Logan's nostrils flared but he went back to eating. Obviously, if he had another pair of protective eyes watching his newfound daughter, he couldn't argue. "However, I don't think I'll have a lot of trouble with protecting myself."

"Don't think you're something special 'cuz you got super strength, kid," Logan warned. "Kids here got powers just as powerful as yours."

"But-"

"No buts. A guy touches you, and I kill him," Logan growled, ending the conversation. I looked at Remy for some sort of help. Remy just grinned at me.

"At least we know he likes y'all," he mouthed. My head drooped. I could pratically feel the anime sweat drops rolling down my forehead.

It was going to be a long however long with Logan and Remy by my side.

* * *

"So, this is the girl's dorm hallway," Storm said, leading me down a long hallway. I looked around, duffle bag swung over my shoulder. It was a simple hallway, with a few pictures of previous mutants boarding her hung along the walls. "Curfew is ten for anyone under fifteen. It's eleven for high school level students."

"Cool," I said. "How far away is Remy's room?"

"Just across the hall from your door. We like to make sure that teacher's are within easy reach if something happens. Logan's is the one right next to it," Storm explained. "I knew you'd want a room close to them."

"For now, I'd just prefer a room near Remy," I said.

"You don't trust him, do you?" she asked, walking slower. I kept behind.

"Not right now, no. Would you trust a man you never met?"

"He's your father."

"A father who was never there," I pointed out. "Just because we share basic DNA and several traits does not mean I will love him instantly."

"I was just hoping that you two would get along right away."

"Trust me, it'll take awhile. If you had some one who acted exactly like you in almost every way, you'd understand," I said as she opened a door that blended in with the wall.

"I bet I would," Storm replied calmly. Obviously, she had dealt with my father's attitude long enough to know just what I would act like and what I would say. It only managed to make me want to hit him more than ever. "This is your room. You'll share it with Rouge and Jubilee. Girls, say hello to Andri."

"Hey!" an excited Asian girl sound, bounding over. She was around my height, really tall for an Asian, and she had red undertones to her otherwise black-brown hair. She wore a red and black leather choker around her neck, a golden ring hanging off it with a large X in the middle of it. "So you're Logan's kid, huh? Wow," she said, squinting at me. "Seriously, Rouge, look at this! She even has that tiny little double lid thing on her left eyelid just like Logan! It's like she's his female clone!"

"Stop scarin' the girl, Jubilee," a Southern voice said. It was followed by an older girl, maybe nineteen, with dark burgandy hair with two white strands in the front. She had dark brown eyes and pale skin, and she was covered by clothing from the neck down, a purple scarf wrapped around her neck and dark leather gloves covering her hands. "Hi there, Andri. I'm Rouge." She offered her hand.

"Hi," I said. She grinned at me, dropping her hand like she'd been expecting me to reject it.

"Just like your dad, honestly. I remember the first time I met your dad. Scary as hell. Love him now, 'course."

I regarded her awkardly. She blushed, finally getting that I failed to understand.

"OH! OH no, honey, sugar, no! Not like that. He's my best friend," she assured. I almost sighed in relief. How awkward would that have been? "I've got a boyfriend, Bobby. Your father is just amazin', though. Saved me too many times to count!" she said, laughing. I gave a small smile. She smiled big, shaking her head.

"Not much of a talker at first, either. Man, maybe y'all are clones," Rouge pondered. Jubilee nodded.

"I told you."

"Well, since you guys are gettin' along, I'm gonna go and check the boys' dorms, okay?" Storm said. "Have a good nice, Andri."

"Yeah, thanks," I said as she shut the door. I looked around the room. The bed to the right of the room against the west wall was vacant, a window right next to the bed on the wall, a foot above the mattress. The middle bed was crammed with clothes and magazines, and it smelled like firey perfume. There were posters of Eminem on the wall behind the bed. The sheets were white, and the duvet was black splashed with warm colors, like fireworks. A green snakeskin jacket hung on the bedpost. It was obviously Jubliee's part of the room; loud, creative, firey.

The other side of the room was a bit more toned down. Rouge's bed, the bed against the east wall, was neat and made. A few scarves hung on the bedpost, alon with a black sweater. There were a few magazines on the night stand, and her part of the room smelled like a softer, more feminine scent, like lilies, or something like that. Her sheets were white, and her duvet was as well. A poster of Bob Dylan was spread across the wall, along with photos of places I'd never seen in the South and a few other pictures, such as her with a boy with bright blue eyes and a picture of her and Logan fighting in the lawn, probably a training session. It was homey-er, calmer, but more serious.

"Y'all can take the bed by the window," Rouge said, pointing to the bed I was near. I nodded, dumping my things on to the mattress. "You got anything?"

"Like what?" I asked, unpacking my clothes. Rouge and Jubilee looked at each other eagerly.

"Well, like, more than one pair of jeans or a few t-shirts?"

"I got five hundred bucks just in case, a few pictures, a jacket and a sweater. And the shoes I'm wearing," I said, taking out the photos I had brought with me along with the ducttape I always kept with me. I taped them to the wall: Remy bouncing me on his knee when I was small, my mother taking me to church on Easter, the Christmas Remy taught me how to pick almost any lock known to man, my first date where Remy threatened to kill him, my first date running away while I glared at Remy, Remy cheering me on at a kick boxing tournament, me socking this one girl's lights out during said tournament, Remy carrying me on his shoulders when I was really little, me with a kick boxing trophy, a screen shot from my birth video of my mom kicking Remy's ass in the hospital with the nurses chasing after her to try and calm her down, my mom and I making dinner at Thanksgiving, Remy sleeping in my living room with his hat tilted over his eyes, me in my homecoming dress, my friends and I dressed for homecoming on my front porch, the crime scene photos my friend had emailed me of Jack practically embedded into the Chevy, the photo of Jack in the hospital in a coma, and finally, the picture of my mom waving to me from the platform as I got on my train to New Orleans just two days ago.

"So, you need to shop," Rouge said, smiling. I sighed, looking at the small amount of things I had in my bag now that the pictures were out.

"I guess I might have to," I admitted. Jubilee and Rouge squealed.

"We're so taking you shopping tomorrow!" Jubilee declared. "It will be so much _fun_!"

Shoot me now.


	6. Chapter 6

"This is gonna be so fun, you won't even notice the time fly by!" Rouge exclaimed, latched to my left arm.

"Or the money!" Jubilee assured, attatched to my right. They were dragging me towards the door, both with smiles miles wide. If I really didn't want to go, I liked to think I would have been able to stop them. But last night, I learned that Rouge could easily just slip off her glove, touch my skin, and have my powers quicker than Remy could say 'merde'. My desperate dreams of escaping we ruined by facts of life.

I damned reality to hell.

"Is this really nessicary?" I asked, resisting the urge to plow my foot into the nice hardwood flooring. They'd practically forced me into clean clothes; mine were dirty from two days of wear. I wore Jubliee's jeans, which were a bit long on me, surprisingly, and Rouge's long sleeved maroon shirt. I failed to see why shopping was so important. They were stingy about letting me borrow clothes, they had said it was totally okay as long as I asked first and washed them before I gave them back. So why the hell they were dragging me out of get clothes when we had plenty to share was beyond me.

"Yes. Oh my God!" Jubilee cried. "Totally just realized that maroon is _so _your color! Look at her, Rouge!"

"Yep, we're getting maroons. Greens and reds, too," she noted to Jubilee. The Asian girl nodded her head along with Rouge's words. "V-necks, definitely. She's got lovely bone structure."

I didn't know how to take that, so I just stayed quiet, trying to figure out if there was any possible way out of this other than forcing myself to throw up or faking a sudden death. Neither of which would make sense. Due to Logan's healing factor, it was literally almost impossible for me to get sick, or at least, get sick enough to the point where I would throw up. Dying would also be an issue, for the same exact reason. Nothing could kill me.

I was starting to find a gradually building hate for my newfound powers.

"We need to get her a leather jacket!" Jubilee suddenly announced. Rouge gasped.

"Of course! You can't be Logan's kid without a leather jacket," Rouge declared, like it was a matter of life or death. I closed my eyes, prayed to God so I could get out of this. World chaos, sudden and rapid cancer, anything. I guessed that this was the price I paid for being practically unbreakable.

"Where the girls takin' you, kid?" Logan asked, coming out of his room and raising his eyebrows at me. I glared at him.

"Shopping," I said through gritted teeth. Logan smirked. He turned to Rouge, digging out his wallet.

"Buy her a good wardrobe, will you, Rouge? Don't want my kid lookin' like some grunge freak," he said, slapping a good sum of money into Rouge's hand. Rouge's smile grew as she nodded. Jubilee squealed.

"But you said you were going to kill any guy who touched me yesterday! What's the point in wasting money to get me good clothes?!" I whined. Logan's smirk grew.

"So you'll look nice."

"You'll kill anyone who touches me!"

"But I didn't say they couldn't look."

"You embedded a freaking_ steak knife_ into the table when a guy smiled at me!"

"Have fun with her," he told Rouge and Jubilee, ignoring my statment and then swaggering down the hallway. I glared at his retreating back.

"I'll get you, Logan! You hear me?! I know you're doing this just to see me go through torture!" I shouted as they dragged me out the door. He waved, not turning. "I'm going to kick your swaggering cocky ass when I get back here! Relations to you be _damned_!"

"Buy her a dress for that dance comin' up this winter, too. Something girly, maybe," he added. Jubilee squealed. Rouge jumped up and down.

"Son of a bitch!"

Logan just smiled.

* * *

"See, this ain't so bad, hm?" Rouge said as my new roommates dragged me through the mall. I didn't say anything. This was the worst and most evil torture I had managed to endure through my almost-fifteen years of life. I'd rather break both my legs than continue shopping. We'd been shopping since eight in the morning. It was two in the afternoon.

"I think my arms are about to fall off," Jubilee said, carrying several bags of clothing. What supposed to be a shopping trip for me turned into a shopping trip for me, Rouge, and Jubilee.

"Y'all did go a little over-board," Rouge said, laughing. Jubilee pouted.

"I couldn't help that Hottopic had so many pretty things! Even Andri caved in there!" Jubilee complained, pointing to me like I had a part in a serious crime with her. I rolled my eyes.

"I only bought a T-shirt. Rouge forced me to buy that skirt," I said, glaring at Rouge, who in turn smiled at me brightly.

"You know you looked amazing in it. Just wait. Logan's gonna have to massacre the entire male and lesbian school population when you wear that!" Jubilee said happily, like mass-murdering the male and lesbian population of Xavier's was the best thing that could possibly happen. "Now, what else do you need?" Jubilee scanned her ridiculously long list of things that she and Rouge deemed absolutely nessicary to survive in Xaviers. "We've got soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, mascara, razors, deo, sheets, perfume, ten good T-shirts, a few camis, blankets, two pairs of jeans, a skirt, shoes, posters of her choice, sweatpants and wife beaters for training-"

"We forgot the dress!" Rouge exclaimed. "And the jacket!"

"The jacket! Oh my God, how could we forget?!" Jubilee cried as they dragged me towards the closest store.

The gift of being able to live through almost anything was quickly becoming a curse.

* * *

"We're back!" Jubilee declared as she and Rouge walked into Xavier's around five o'clock, right before dinner, their arms full of bounty. I walked behind them, Ipod blaring Marylin Manson and newfound leather jacket over the camisole I'd worn out that morning. I would never admit it outloud, but the last few hours of shopping hadn't been bad. By miracle, it seemed, Rouge, Jubilee, and I shared the same shoe size. The result was two hours spent getting as many awesome shoes as we could afford.

"So I see. What did you do to my daughter now?" Logan asked, walking over to us as Rouge unlocked the door.

"Bought her some stuff. Like it?" Jubilee asked, pointing to my leather jacket. Logan and I stared at each other, shook our heads. As if we weren't alike enough already.

Though I had to admit, I did like the jacket, however Logan-ish it did make me feel.

"So, kid, what happened to you kicking my cocky swaggering ass?" Logan asked, leaning against the wall. I picked up the rest of the bags that Rouge and Jubilee had left. I sent a wicked glare at him.

"I'm getting to it. Name the place and time and I'll be there."

"Tomorrow morning. Seven o'clock. Main lawn. Think of it as your first training session," he chided, smirking at me.

"It is my first training session, genius."

"No need to be a smart-ass," Logan said simply, "just turn up so we can see what you can do."

"Simple enough. Be warned, Rouge wants to dress me up for dinner," I said, toeing my door open. Logan raised his eyebrows at me.

"Why?"

"Because she feels like I'm her newest creation," I said, wincing at the very thought of what was to come.

"You know that she's just asking for Remy and I to murder most of Xavier's students, right?"

"Just don't break to many skulls, old man. I don't want human entrails in my fruit salad."


	7. Chapter 7

Dinner, I had to admit, was more problmatic than I had anticipated.

"Remy, quit breathing down my neck. Literally," I said, shivering at how weird it felt. Logan was ahead of me in the lunch line, and Remy was barely an inch behind. It was like I had two hyper-aware body guards. It was absolutely ridiculous.

"Just be thankful we're keepin' those creeps at bay. They'd be all over y'all if I wasn't here,' Remy quipped, obviously aggressive and protective. I rolled my eyes. Rogue and Jubilee laughed from behind Remy.

"Don't make me come back there! This was your freaking idea, Rogue!" I hissed. She beemed at me.

"It was a great idea," she said. Jubilee nodded.

"A really great idea. Did you see Pyro's eyes almost pop out of his sockets?" Jubilee laughed. Roge snorted.

"Isn't he nineteen?" Logan asked dangerously, now searching the room for the poor boy. I had no idea who he was, but I felt some sense of pity for him. After all, Rogue had pretty much just set him up for death row.

"Would you calm down?" I tried to ask as politely as I could. It was hard, though. I was trapped in Xavier's cafeteria with two overly-protective father figures, _whilst in a skirt_. It was a recipe for disaster. "All I want to do is get some dinner, eat, and get the hell out of here. If you think I like all this attention, old man, you are _dead_ wrong." The entire twenty minutes I'd been in the line had been Logan and Remy threatening, Rogue and Jubilee giggling, and guys I never met almost drooling. I was getting so sick of it I snapped my tray in half, and Rogue had to give me another one.

"Speakin' of dead," Remy said, sending a wicked crimson glare at a boy staring at my legs. He dissapeared into thin air, literally. I groaned in frustration, glaring at Rogue.

"I'm going to kill you in your sleep."

"No you ain't," she said simply, grabbing an apple. I glared at her harder before the absolute worst thing happened.

Some one grabbed my ass.

"Hey," he said, grinning at me. It was the kid who grinned at me the night before. I was frozen, blush lightening up my face. He smirked. "What's your name, babe?"

I counted to ten, and when he didn't move, I snapped before Logan and Remy, who'd been ordering their dinners, even realized what was going on.

I socked him across the room. He crashed into the hard tile floor. I probably broke his ribs. At least I hoped so.

"PUT YOUR HAND ON MY ASS AGAIN, DOUCHE BAG, AND I WILL FREAKING CASTRATE YOU!" I hollered at him. Everyone in the room was silent, even Logan and Remy. I turned back around, grabbed a new tray, and order pasta. The roomed was entirely silent, but leave it to Jubilee to break the silence.

"_Damn._"

* * *

"And then she was totally like, "PUT YOUR HAND ON MY ASS AGAIN, DOUCHE BAG, AND I WILL FREAKING CASTRATE YOU!'. It was freaking _awesome_," Jubilee said. I could almost hear my mother's sigh on the other end. "But anyway, Ms. Jones, it was great meeting you! You're like, the most kick-ass mom I know!"

My mom said something, and it made Jubilee laugh. Then, the Asian master of fireworks handed the phone back to me, amusing herself by making tiny fireworks whilst staring up at the ceiling. I rolled my eyes, taking hold of the phone and putting it to my ear. My mom was laughing.

"So, that was Jubilee," I said, sighing. Mom laughed a bit harder.

"She's interesting, I'll give her that. She seems like a good kid," Mom said. I could picture her smile in my mind's eye, and it made me smile back.

"Yeah, she's different," I admitted. "I like Rogue better."

"HEY!" Jubilee said, offended. Rogue, who was on her bed reading an old-looking book, didn't look up, but instead made a 'woohoo' motion, lifting her hand in the air, pointing the ceiling and then twirling her finger around. Her facial expression was pretty much blank, which made the gesture that much funnier. I grinned.

"Once I met her I know you did. She's more up your and your father's alley," Mom said. I heard her take a sip of her drink. "How are things with your father?"

"Interesting," I said. I could picture my mom rolling her amber eyes.

"Well, honey, I'd like more details than that."

"Well, for one thing, he's extremely over-protective. More so than Remy, which is ridiculous considering the circumstances," I explained. Jubilee winced.

"Big words. My brain hurts!"

"Jubilee, hush up! She didn't distract you none when y'all called your parents," Rogue scolded lightly, still not looking up from her book. Jubilee stuck out her tongue at the Southern Belle and flipped the bird. Rogue apparently had amazing peripheral vision, because she tossed a book at Jubilee. It hit her square in the forehead. I tried not to laugh as Jubilee sat in her bed opening and closing her mouth like a mentally retarded goldfish, a red patch of skin forming just above the space between her eyebrows.

"Sounds like him," Mom mused. "How're you getting along with him?"

"Eh, the fact that we're almost exactly alike throws us off a bit," I admitted, "but other than that it seems fine. Granted, it's only been a day. I have a training session with him tomorrow. Storm, the school principal, wants me to join the team."

"What team?"

"The X-men team. We fight off bad mutants, people who want to destroy mutants or the world. The way I see it, we're a team who exsist souly to save everyone else's ass."

"You sound so much like your father."

"Please, don't remind me. It's like I have an older male clone."

"Imagine what he feels like. He must be so mad at me," Mom sighed.

"He's more pissed off at himself than anyone," I said. "Well, actually, he's more pissed off at every guy in Xavier's than anyone."

"Why is that?"

"Rogue made me wear a skirt to dinner tonight," I said through gritted teeth. Jubilee cracked up. Rogue tried hard not to laugh.

"YOU PUNCHED HIM ACROSS THE FREAKING CAFETERIA!" Jubilee exploded with laughter. I blushed.

"So I was told," Mom said, laughing. My blush deepened.

"It was either me socking him across the room or Remy holding him down while Logan stabbed him multiple times before castrating him," I told Jubilee, covering the mouth piece.

"I can still hear you, honey," Mom said. I frowned.

"Well, whatever. I have to go, Mom. I'll call you on Satuday, okay?"

"All right, sweetheart. Play it safe."

"That's harder for me to do than most people."

"Understood, but try anyway," Mom insisted. I sighed.

"Fine, fine, I will."

"Good girl. Kick your daddy's ass for me, just to show him what you're made of."

I grinned. "Not a problem."


	8. Chapter 8

"How the hell-" Logan said, trying to slice me across the stomach. I dodged quickly, heart racing with fear. I'd fought before, but never really with a highly-trained killer with metal claws. He took a deep breath, lunged at me again. "did you learn how to fight like this?!" Logan finished, taking another swipe at me, cutting my shoulder. It left a window open, however, since he momentarily took pride and guilt in the fact that he had just drawn blood from his own kid. I took the chance, grabbing a tree branch and lifting myself up so that drop-kicking Logan in the face was possible. I drop-kicked him straight in the middle of his face, my Etnies leaving an imprint in his face, breaking his nose. When he was sent flying, threw several knives after him, nailing him the gut twice, knicking his left shoulder, and sinking one deep into his right thigh.

I pumped my fist when I saw my results as he crashed into a tree, making it shake. It took all my strength not to let out a deranged war cry. My mother had mentioned before that Apache warrior blood ran through my viens from her side of the family. It was always another thing to worry about to her; my inner-Apache warrior combined with my likeness to my father, she said, would probably result in the apocolypse. Now that I thought about it, it was probably the main reason for her telling me to not give my all in my kick-boxing, and why she usually liked to keep knives away from me. She just never mentioned it as much as my likeness to Logan. I guessed that was because she didn't want to encourage me. If anything, my knowledge of having Apache heritage made fighting that much better.

I could practically feel the wild instinct to fight flow through me like nothing before. It made me smile like I was on top of the world, which probably just ended up with me smiling like a sadistic psycho serial killer, but that was besides the point. I was kicking ass and hell if I didn't enjoy it.

"Seriously!" Logan said, yanking the knives from his gut and leg, then grabbing the one that had embedded itself not three inches from where his eye had been. His neck was crooked. If he'd been a normal person, he probably would have died from having a broken neck, or at least had to wear a neck brace for a good remainder of his life. "I know you took kick-boxing, but I doubt they teach you how to swing from trees or use your surroundings. It's like you've been to damn ninja school," Logan muttered, lighting up his cigar and taking a deep puff. I wiped the sweat from my brow.

"It's the Apache. I get it from Mom," I said, laughing. Logan smirked.

"She always did say that the Apaches were out for blood," he said, shaking his head as he twisted his neck back into place. I cringed at the image.

"Only when in war, Wolfy-boy." I grinned at my nickname for him. I managed to make it up during the fight.

"You're living proof," Logan muttered, cracking his neck a little before sighing. "We have to go to Storm. She and Remy have been watchin' this entire time. If that wasn't freakin' good enough I don't know what is. And stop callin' me that! As if being called 'Dad' wasn't bad enough..."

"Pshh," I said. We'd been at it for an hour, even on both sides. " I'll call you Wolfy-boy whenever I please, considering I just proved that you can't do a whole lot to stop me. Can I have my knives back?"

"Sure," Logan said casually before whirling around and chucking them at me with lightening accuracy. One knicked my shoulder, but I managed to grab the that one and deflect the other three.

"Nice try, Wolfy-boy."

"It was worth a shot. Stop callin' me that."

"I could have died," I said, trying to pull the guilt trip. Logan rolled his eyes, but I saw the flash of worry, however faint. I grinned as we started to walk towards the school.

"Bullshit."

"Well, maybe not, but I would have been in serious pain."

"Pain builds character. Deal with it."

"Wow, you _are_ bitchy in the mornings," I muttered. Logan looked at me.

"What?"

"Oh nothing. Jubilee warned me that you were a bit... _sensitive _in the mornings," I said, using air quotes. Logan just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Get your ass inside."

"Yes sir, Wolfy-boy."

"I said quit it, kid! Say it again, and I'll shove your foot in your mouth."

"Sure thing... Wolfy-boy."

I ran towards Storm's room like the apocolypse, a pitbull, and Oprah were behind me.

* * *

"You're fighin' was amazing, Peanut," Remy admired proudly. I grinned modestly.

"Just goes to show how kick-boxing, Logan-ness, and a little Apache blood can do," I said, then looked at Storm. "Am I in?"

"Undoubtedly," Storm said happily. "We haven't seen a kid throw knives like that without using telepathy since I don't remember when."

"Thanks," I said, nodding. "But can I go take a shower now? I feel nasty as hell."

"Go ahead," Storm said calmly. I nodded and turned. "We've got training tomorrow. I'll introduce you to Piotr. You guys should be great training partners."

"I'm tingling with excitement!" I said, sarcastic. Remy smacked me upside the head. I winced acutely, glaring. "I mean, that's great, Storm. I look forward to it."

"Thought you would."


	9. Chapter 9

"So, you kick your dad's ass?" Jubilee asked frankly as I sat down at our lunch table. I grinned.

"We were pretty much even," I admitted, grabbing an apple and biting into it viciously. "But I'll be damned if the training didn't make me as hungry as _hell_." Jubilee laughed, shoved her tray over to me. Half a plate of pasta that she hadn't finished, a salad, and an orange. "Oh my God, I never though I'd say this, but I love you, Jubilee." This statement made her laugh harder, and I raised an eyebrow as I bit into my apple again.

"It's the same way I won Logan over," she said, shaking her head. I frowned.

"Please, I just spent the entire morning realizing over and over that Logan and I are alike in almost everyway other than the fact that I have Apache in me and that I'm a girl," I said, shaking my head. "I swear, God made me just so that Logan and I would want to tear each other apart."

"You'll get over that. You're both a little edgy when you first meet people. He'll love you in a few weeks," Jubilee said, smiling. "Trust me, the guy puts up with me on an almost daily basis, but he still saves my butt during training. If he can come to like me enough to save my skinny Asian ass, I think he'll seriously love you."

"Right," I said, laughing. "Probably only because I can save my own ass."

"True," Jubilee said, shrugging. "You never know. Give it some time."

"Eh," I said, digging into the pasta now that the apple was gone. "Do you know who Piotr is, by the way?" I asked, looking at Jubilee.

"You mean Mr. Tall, Russian, and Handsome? He's right over there," Jubilee said, grinning like a cat. "Why do you ask, my suddenly very interesting friend?"

I looked over to where Jubilee had pointed, and tried to keep my cool. Mr. Tall, Russian, and Handsome was a perfect description of Piotr. He was incredibly tall, taller than Logan by at least a head, maybe even two. He had dark brown curly hair, piercing gray-blue eyes, and rugged good looks for a guy who was only a few years older than me. Jubilee's squeal brought me out of my little stare-fest.

"YOU LIKE HIM!!!"

"No I don't!" I defended instantly. "Storm just mentioned that I'll have to train with him."

"You liiiiike him," Jubilee hummed. "And he's free. He and Kitty broke up a while ago."

"Look, Jubilee, I don't care if he's free-" I started. Jubilee raised her eyebrows, grinning from ear to ear.

"So you like being the woman on the side? Ooh la la!"

"No! It's not that!" I said, getting frustrated. "I'm not interested in him that way. He's just going to be my training partner. I just want to know what I'll be up against."

"Sure," Jubilee said. "But you know you want somma that," she sang.

"...Shut up."

"I knew it."


	10. Chapter 10

This was absolutely ridiculous.

I screamed in pain, staggering up from the grass, tears making a clean pathway down my dirty face as my arm healed from being chopped off. Literally. Logan cracked his neck, wincing. "What the HELL?! I almost kicked your ass last week!" I shouted at him, tears stinging my eyes.

"I was goin' easy on you to see what you could do. It wasn't much," Logan said. My anger flared and I tried not to charge at him. I was stupid for thinking that every thing was going right, honestly; I should have seen that Logan was going easy on me, being a newby and his daughter. But something about him was off today, like some one had programmed his brain into sadist-overload. It had been a weird second week at Xavier's. Piotr was afraid to even speak to me thanks to Remy and Logan's advancing efforts to save my ass when I didn't need it, even when said Russian was made of bio-steel and a good seven feet tall with incredible strength when in natural human form. So my hopes, it seemed, to actually attempt at boy action, had been thwarted mercilessly. Rogue and Bobby were having a huge fight, so it made my room the most awkward place in the entire school with Bobby coming around late to try and 'make it up' to her. Jubilee, it seemed, was the only person I could actually related to at the moment, and that was only because we both liked to make fun of Logan when he wasn't around.

Of course, there were a few times where that kind of blew up in our faces, many of which ending with us running like hell and locking ourselves downstairs in the panic room until we were absolutely sure that Logan had gotten over it. I may have been able to heal, but that didn't mean I wanted to feel the wrath that was Logan's newly developing fatherly instincts.

Logan wiped his mouth, claws bared. I panted, trying to get my breath. "You might be able to break adamantium, kid, but don't think you're catching me off guard again with Apache bullshit. You could beat a pro-wrestler, but not me."

"What is up with you today?" I screamed, frustrated since I was getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter. I launched myself at Logan, knives drawn. "You are so-" I tried to stab him. I got him in the shoulder, but just barely, before I was thrown violently to the ground. "Bitchy!"

"It's none of your goddamn business," he spat as I twisted to my side, narrowly avoiding a punch that would have made my face concave. I saw a window and took it, kicking him dead in the thigh with all my strength. I heard a satisfying crack and I almost cried with joy. Finally, I managed to hurt Logan enough to stall him. I got up quickly and sucker punched him, sending him a few feet. Then I dropped to the ground again, trying to get my breath back.

"It's my damn bussiness if you're taking it out on me!" I retorted, and Logan groaned because he knew I was right, or because his bone was healing...

"It- isn't." He forced himself up, shaking his head. He might have gone easy on me the first time, but this was absolutely sadistic in nature. He cut my fucking arm off earlier, for Christ's sake. Something was up.

"If I know anything about myself, I know everything about you. It's Mom," I said, getting up as well and leaning against a tree. "Only Mom could ever make me as angry as you are now. You called her, didn't you?" I asked with disbelief. "God, Logan, why the hell did you call Josie? She hasn't talked to you in fifteen years."

"I know!" Logan shouted at me. "But I wanted to know-"

"Why she didn't tell you?" I finished for him. He nodded, and since he didn't yell at me again, I could only deduce that he was calming down. Thank God. I stared at him for a second, a man in pain. But it wasn't physical, not anymore. I could tell Logan was used to physical pain, just as I was getting a little more used to it. But emotional pain, it seemed, was a place still uncontrolled with Logan, even though he'd probably been through a lot of that type of pain, too.

I had to wonder myself, why my mother never told Logan that I exsisted. There was my simple theory that she didn't want him to kill me, but somehow I knew that our likeness wouldn't have been so frustrating if we knew it was there from the begining, if he'd been there from the begining. And also, why Remy? I loved Remy more than almost anyone. Mom came before him, just barely. But she knew Remy knew where Logan was, and usually what he was up to. Why did she want Remy to keep quiet about me all this time? Did she think that I wasn't good enough for Logan?

Did she think that Logan wasn't good enough for me?

"What did she tell you?" I asked as Logan dug a cigar out of his pocket. I was still wheezing, my lungs devistated by a drop kick to my chest that probably broke every rib in my skeletal system. Good God, Logan had beaten the shit out of me.

"I don't want to talk about it," Logan said gruffly, and for once, I really didn't feel like pushing it with him today. Sure, I'd only known him a week, and I did love to push his buttons, but I sort of knew how he felt, just from talking to Mom. I could only imagine the conversation they'd had. I winced at the very thought. Mom was a sweetheart to me, but she was vicious and emotional when it came to men. As if kicking Remy's ass in the ER wasn't enough proof.

The silence that ensued was awkward. What was I supposed to say? We both sucked with words when emotion was involved. So I walked back into the mansion, shirt and pants in tatters with a hole in my shoe big enough to wiggle my big toe through. I looked like hell, that much I knew, and I kind of felt like it, too. The week had just kind of blown up in my face with my first week at school mainly being fighting girls off of Remy right and left and dealing with odd stares and whispers. It wouldn't have surprised me if Jubilee had gotten carried away and told the whole school I wanted to get in Piotr's pants. Remy was so busy trying to ignore girls and actually do desk work and not steal or vandilize that he didn't have a lot of time to speak with me. It probably would have ended badly, anyway, because I was so tired I could kill. With Rogue and Bobby's fight, Bobby's late night apologies were starting to take their toll. Logan was just the icing on the cake at the moment.

"Well aren't we a dazzlin' ray of sunshine," Jubilee said as I stumbled into our room. I cringed.

"He talked to my mother," I said shortly, grabbing a clean towel from my part of the closet. Jubilee winced, flipping the page in her Cosmo.

"How'd that go?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look at me. How the hell do you think it went?" I asked bitterly. "I wouldn't be surprised if he put my mother in tears. He's a closet sadist. Bastard took off my arm today."

"Ouch," Jubilee said.

"Ouch is such an understatement that it almost makes me laugh," I said, rubbing my forearm as I shed my pants and shirt, leaving me in a wife beater and underwear. "God, this week has _sucked_."

"You did have a pretty easy first week," Jubilee admitted. "I mean, we got you clothes, you didn't have to start school right away, and you got on the team. It's a pretty lucky start for a newby."

"Apparently," I said, aching all over, even with the healing factor. I checked my face in the mirror. The last of the scratches were healing up. I sighed. "I just hope this gets better. It's driving me crazy."

"You are a bit bitchier than usual," Jubilee agreed. I walked to the bathroom, kicking my shoes violently at the wall. One embedded itself into the drywall, almost making me smile until I heard voices outside. It was six o'clock, not late at all, but I wanted sleep, and goddamnit, I wanted it _now. _Or at least after a shower, I thought, as I looked longingly at the dripping tap of the showerhead.

"I'm taking a shower. If Bobby comes in here one more time, I'm snapping him in half and using his internal organs-."

"Don't go any further than that, breaking him in half was good enough for me," Jubilee responded. "Jesus Christ, Andri, take a shower. Not only are you bitchy, but you _wreak_!"

"Thanks, Jubilee." My voice dripped with sarcasm as I walked into the shower.


	11. Chapter 11

"Rogue, come on!" Bobby whined from outside the door. It was four in the morning, and Bobby had been at my door since midnight. Rogue had placed her pillow over her head, but it was obvious that she was still listening to everything he said. Jubilee had given up on sleep, instead playing video games and snacking loudly on Doritos. I'd also given up, watching as Jubilee kicked as in Mortal Combat.

"Rogue! Baby! Come on!" Bobby called, begging. Four hours. Four _fucking _hours. That was freaking _it. _Not only was Iceman sulking around during school, but his practices with the team sucked, more so than mine, which in my opinion was saying something. He sulked around looking like a lost puppy, and then at night he came to our door to try and get Rogue to listen to reason. Bobby had seemed like a nice enough guy when I met him, and I got a vibe that he was a little immature and clingy, but this was just absolutely fucking _ridiculous._

"That's it!" I said, suddenly getting up from my bed and storming to the door, putting dents in the floor but hell if I cared. I had sleep-deprived for two straight, consecutive weeks, and super hero healing onyl gets you so far in this damn world. Rogue peaked out from under her covers, and Jubilee leaned past the small television set to see what I would do to Bobby. I had made many oathes to tear him limb from limb in the most grotesque ways I could think of, and if I knew Jubilee, she was dying to see which one I would choose.

When I opened the door, I nearly tore it out of the doorframe completely. The wood around the knob had splintered and broken, so as I stood before Bobby in all my rage, tired as fuck and out for blood, I held three knives and a doorknob. Not what I had planned, granted, but with any hope, he would think I did it on purpose. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"

"I wanted to see if Rogue could talk to m-" Bobby started, but I cut him off.

"Forget it. You've been at this for two weeks straight, and it's driving all of us freaking crazy! It's a miracle that Rogue hasn't dumped your whinny ass by now!"

"But-"

I brandished a knife at him. "Look, I haven't slept for two freaking weeks because of your blubbering, and it's driving me up a fucking wall!" I barked. "Talk to Rogue when she isn't sharing a room. You're only making her more embarrassed as it is. Now get the hell away from my room before I snap your icy ass in half!"

A small silence made itself known, but I held my ground, doorknob in one hand and knives in the other, my arms crossed as I tapped my foot, waiting for whatever his brilliant comeback would be.

"So," he said slowly, "Rogue can't talk right now?"

"GET OUT!!!" I screamed, chucking the knives at him. He ran like hell down the hallway, knives embedding themselves along the wall shortly behind him. And when I ran out of those, the doorknob proved to be very useful. I managed to hit him square in the back. "Don't come crawling back, either! SHE'LL TALK WHEN SHE'LL TALK!"

And with that, I slammed the door. It embedded itself into the doorframe and cracked down the middle, but I would worry about telling Storm at that in the morning. I trudged to bed, slipped under the covers, and sighed.

"Much better." Jubilee smiled at me, tired as hell.

"Andri, I freaking love you."

"Yeah, you won't when we're kicked out of the room so that they can fix the door," I laughed softly. Jubilee waved her hand.

"I'm sure I'll get over it. Handling Bobby like that made up for it. You throw knives like a fucking _ninja_!"

"Apache. It's a wonderful thing," I said, raising my arm out of the covers and pumping my fist with what little effort I had left. It was supposed to actually show that I was proud. Instead, half way through, my arm just fell, lifeless from lack of sleep. Jubilee let out a tired laugh.

"You seem so enthusiastic."

"I would be if I didn't feel freaking _dead_!" I complained. "God, I'm supposed to have kick-ass super-human healing. I can practically regrow my arm but I can't last through sleep deprivation? My mutation is screwed with a sharp and pointy object made of sandpaper," I said into my pillow. Rogue yawned, sitting up since we were talking.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side when you're tired," she said, looking at the door. I grinned, closing my eyes.

"I do get a little bitchy, don't I?"

"Honey, bitchy is a bit of an understatement," she laughed. "I mean you threw freakin' _knives_ at the guy."

"I like knives. They just didn't like Bobby," I said, not entirely sure if the statement made any sense. It made Jubilee laugh regardless.

"Yeah, well, thanks for takin' care o' him tonight. I just really don't wanna talk to him. He's gettin' so... clingy. It's weird," Rogue muttered. I grinned, giving her a half-assed attempt at a thumbs-up.

"No problem, Roguey-bear."

Jubilee looked at me oddily. "Did you just call her Roguey-bear?"

"I'm not accountable for the things I do when I drunk, or in this case, tired," I defended. Rogue laughed, snuggling back in to her quilt.

"God, go to sleep, Andri," Jubilee laughed. I raised an eyebrow at her, sitting up slightly.

"What about you?"

"I've got one more level before I win this bitch. No way I'm givin' up now," she said viciously. I grinned and sunk back into my mattress.

"You have fun with that."

Jubilee only cackled evilly, and from there, it was a blurred memory of Jubilee muttering profanities at the TV and the whirling sound of her pressing a zillion buttons a minute until everything faded to black.


	12. Chapter 12

Warning: Lots of Bobby Bashing! =D

* * *

I couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. I still felt dead, but I did feel a bit better. I probably would have slept for days if it hadn't been for Logan kicking down my door around six AM.

"ANDRASTE ETIENNE CREED!" he shouted. I jumped out of bed quicker than Rogue could have seen, suddenly armed with two knives and ready to take down whatever bitch had decided to disturb my sleep. Too bad it was my father, with Remy behind him. I couldn't kill them, mainly because I would have to become a run away regretting their murders for the rest of my life but also because I'd learned that it was pretty much impossible for me to take Logan down. "YOU ARE SO GROUNDED!"

"Wha?" I said, still sleepy even though I was on an adrenalin high. Remy held up my knives and the door knob, while Logan pointed to the dents in the floor and the door beside them. Neither one of them looked too happy. I smiled sheepishly. "Oh, those."

"Yeah, those!" Logan shouted. "Do you know how much money it's going to take to get dents out of the floor? Not to mention you woke up half the house and left Bobby with a fractured vertebrae!"

"And you think you're yelling is letting anyone sleep either?" I demanded, keeping the knives in my hands. "And he had that fractured back coming. He should be damn thankful I didn't snap his icy ass in half-"

"Andraste," Remy warned, giving me a look. I looked at him.

"Don't 'Andraste' me!" I shot back. "That whiny son-of-a-bitch has been in front of our door for a week straight from midnight till dawn asking Rogue to forgive him. It's my room, too, and I hadn't got sleep in a week! Bobby had it coming!"

"Rogue, why didn't you tell me?" Logan asked. Rogue just blushed, looking at Remy. Remy, in turn, looked to the floor. My eyes widened, and I was about to blurt out 'what the hell' but Logan interrupted, not seeing the small transaction. "Or you, Andri? You could have told me at any time and I would have gotten him away!"

"I like to handle things myself like a big girl. I don't need to crawl to _daddy_for everything!" I spat, eyes on fire. Logan looked at me for a second. Maybe he was hurt, maybe he was tired. It was hard to tell. Either way, it was pretty obvious that I was not adjusting to having a father well. "And stop using your last name when you're angry. My name is Andraste Jones, not Andraste Creed. Check my birth certificate!"

"You're under my roof, so I'll call you what I want!" Logan shot back.

"This isn't even your house!" I shot back. "God, why didn't I just stay with Mom?" I wondered, rubbing my hands over my face after I set my knives on my bedside table. It seemed to stop Logan in his tracks and the room fell silent, expect for Jubilee's soft snoring. Somehow, Jubilee managed to stay asleep through this all. My theory was that it was another mutation of hers that we had failed to realize. A good few minutes passed before Remy spoke up, clearing his throat.

"Peanut, may I have a word?" he asked. I walked past Logan in a huff. His eyes didn't leave the place where I had been standing before, his glassy stare giving me the hint that he was deep in thought. I stepped out into the hallway and then walked down it behind Remy. He opened a door and gestured for me to get inside. It was his room. The minute he shut the door he spun around, Southern anger flaring. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Me? What the hell is wrong with you?! You think I didn't see that little thing with Rogue?" I demanded. Remy swore in French.

"We're not here to talk about that!" he defended. "And yes, what the hell is wrong with toi?!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're runnin' 'round throwin' knives and punchin' kids-"

"Both of those assholes deserved it."

"It don't matter!" Remy spat. "You're makin' it real hard to Logan to be a father when you just ain't exceptin' him!"

"Logan's-"

"Don't tell me what Logan's up to!" Remy shouted. "What I know is that you're actin' like a brat towards him and that he's goin' through a hell of a time with ta mere!"

"The shitty relationship between him and Josie evolved way before I came along!" I defended.

"Maybe so," he said, "but you sure as hell didn't help it!"

"So you think that I, as a separated egg and sperm in Logan and Josie, said, hey, let's fuck up these two's lives! World, here I come!'?"

"No," Remy said, somewhat defeated, "but you're not makin' this easy for Logan."

"He's the one that left her! He's the one who left me! And before you start pegging the blame on me, Rems, think about the fact that you coulda told him any old time in the past fifteen years, okay? If this is my fault, it's only because I exist. I'm sorry that Josie and Logan can't work something out without crying or yelling, okay? I know it's not easy for them. But they kind of fuck their relationship up themselves, if not with your help!"

My little lecture managed to shut Remy up. I felt bad, but it was true, right? I mean, Remy was trying to blame me for this, when he was the one who had all the chances to make it right. I squared my shoulders and walked towards the door.

"Now, if you excuse me, I believe I have some serious hazing, yelling, and grounding to go through. Adieu," I declared, and walked from the room.

* * *

By the way, if you're wondering how Remy met Josie or how Josie and Logan got involved, read my story Waiting, because it's the story that's kind of the background to this one. =]


	13. Chapter 13

Being grounded by Logan was way different than being grounded by Josie, it turned out. When I was grounded at my mom's house, it only last for a few days, and it was usually just scrubbing my bathroom from ceiling to floor with a tooth brush and bleach. That I had gotten used to, because at least I could listen to music when I did that.

Logan's version of a punishment was a _little_ different.

"I can not believe you!" I shouted, beating my fists against the danger room doors. "This is an absolute suicide mission! AND I'M DOING IT ALONE!!!"

"Tough love, kid. Besides, it's not suicide. You can live through anything, and it's only gonna be six hours of hardcore fighting," Logan smirked at me, I could tell by the screen in the door. "Besides, if Piotr can handle this, so can you."

"Piotr has skin made of bio steel!" I shot back. "And I don't even have my knives!"

"Be creative. It's what we look for when we scout for the team. Be thankful that Storm even let you on," Logan snorted. "Jesus, you women and your knvies."

"Well, seeing that I don't have metal claws, they're about the next best thing," I said, cracking my knuckles as I got ready. "Thanks for that, by the way. Would it have killed your DNA to give me claws? They'd come in handy right now."

"Just remember that you were the fastest," Logan chided, smirking. I wanted to gag.

"I so don't want to think about you and Josie like that. That is just absolutely _nasty_."

"Tough love," Logan repeated his earlier statement. "Now have fun. I'll be having a cigar."

"And reading what, _Cosmo_?" I tormented. "I could see you as a _Cosmo _sort of guy-"

"Just get ready," Logan growled, lighting up a cigar outside and hitting a button. My eyes widened.

"Oh shi-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence when a car was thrown at me. I barely ducked in time. "SON OF A BITCH! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, LOGAN-"

"Can't hear you!" he said cheerfully. I narrowed avoided a steel claw slashing at my stomach. I hit the ground, the wind knocked out me. Logan had locked me in the danger room, for six hours, on one of the hardest settings. He wanted me dead. It was the only reasonable explination for his actions, because no father who even cared remotely about his child would put them in this situation. A car exploded next to me, the glass embedding itself in my skin. I hissed in pain. I would have killed for some bio steel skin at the moment. The glass was pushed out of my skin as it healed, and I started to run even though my body was on fire with pain. If I could do anything to survive this, it would have to be venting my anger towards Logan and everything that was happening, from my mom being upset when I called her that morning to Rogue and Remy sharing a look that was wrong on so many levels, into my fighting, even if it got my killed.

* * *

I came out of the Danger Room six hours later, beaten, bloody, sore as hell, but alive and healing quickly. I think I broke my elbow, and possibly my ankle, but by the time I realized what a broke bone felt like, it healed up. Behind me, Logan saw absolute hell, and, most importantly of all, a dead robot. He patted my back, smirking.

"I'm proud of you, kid," he said, stunning me for a second. It was rare of anyone to say that they were proud of me, let alone Logan, who I had come to know as a pain in the ass over the past three weeks. We walked in silence, his hand still on my back, before I straightened my back, cracking it. Logan cringed but didn't say anything, chewing on his cigar as if the sound brought back painful memories of his own.

"You're the one who put me in there," I reminded him, not looking at him but keeping my focus straight ahead.

"To see if you'd do what you're capable of. And you did," Logan said simply. I scrunched up my face, cracked my shoulders loudly as I shrugged. I looked over my shoulder. That probably wasn't a good sign. Logan looked at my shoulders, too. "You might wanna have that looked at."

"Yeah, I think I'll go see the nurse about that one," I agreed, rolling my shoulder blades only to hear more painful cracks and feel an odd grinding feeling in them. "That's just gross. Is it possible for us to heal incorrectly?"

"At points. Since you're still a teen your healing ability isn't all what it can be, I think. I can only remember so much," Logan admitted. I looked at him.

"Is that frustrating?"

"What?" he asked, confused as to what I meant.

"Not remembering anything," I said, filling him in. "It would just about drive me crazy."

"It almost did," Logan said seriously. "Xavier pretty much saved my ass from my own foot, though. Wish he was around to see you. Woud have probably fallen right out of his wheelchair." Logan's voice had taken a fond tone, like he missed the founder of the school. "And Jean-"

"Please, don't talk about your love affairs," I said suddenly. Logan whipped his head over to look at me.

"How do you know about that?!"

"Rogue tells all, my dearest father, Rogue tells _all_."


	14. Chapter 14

It wasn't for two weeks until something odd happened. I liked to think that it was all Jubilee's fault, but that's only because I blamed a lot of things on Jubilee. She turned out to be my best friend over the coarse of my first month at Xavier's; Rogue had kept more to herself, though she opened up a little bit after I kicked Iceman's ass down the hallway (okay, I threw knives and a doorknob, I didn't actually kick his ass. He should be thankful I didn't!).

My classes were going well, at least in all areas unrelated to math. Biology Honors was a little tough, but I managed it. Algebra Honors was what was screwing me over, and Logan was absolutely no help at all.

"Well this makes no sense at all," Logan growled, looking frustratedly at the math homework. "Shit, kid, I fight, I don't do Algebra-"

"Tell that to Storm. I have to learn this whether I like it or not," I said, miffed by the very thought. I did not like being ordered around, especially when it involved doing some sort of math.

"Bitch," he muttered, crumpling the paper and tossing it into the garbage can. "I give up."

"So much for a good role model," I snorted, kicking back in my chair and then deciding I wanted to walk around the mansion a bit. "I'm headin' out. Later _pops_," I said, grinning because I knew how much Logan hated it when I called him 'pops'. He sent me a half-hearted glare.

"Don't get cocky, kid. Just because you can survive the Danger Room-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, doesn't mean I can survive you. You're one to talk about getting cocky," I noted before I stretched. Logan shook his head. "What?"

"And you wonder why I have to bash skulls daily," he stated, shaking his head. I looked at my attire. A denim mini-skirt, sturdy black winter boots that Mom had given me a year ago (she just sent them by mail when the news of the first snow at Xavier's got to her), Jubilee's fishnet tights, a belt with a large buckle, a black bandanna wrapped around my neck, and a gray V-neck sweater. I grinned.

"I don't wonder, I just love making you think I do," I said as I left, popping my earphones in. Logan rolled his eyes.

"You get that from your mother!"

"You know it!"

* * *

I walked around a bit, going nowhere in-particular. Just strutting my stuff in the halls, as Mom would say. I breezed past the game room, getting a whistle as I passed. I ignored it and kept moving, crossing my arms as I walked. After a month, I'd gotten used to guys being immature. I mean sure, there'd been the stupid immature guys at my old school, but that was when I could barely kick their asses. Now, I could send Piotr into a wall if I tried hard enough (the guy weighed a lot due to the whole 'made of bio-steel thing). You would think that guys would be absolutely terrified of me, but other than the guy I punched in the cafeteria, the rest of the guys had either lost interest in me like that or stayed the same only a bit more toned down after Logan cracked the first few skulls.

"Ow-ow! Lookin' good, Andri!" Jubilee called over Disturbed, which was blasting into my ears. I sent her a smile.

"Thanks, Jubilee," I laughed. She jogged up to walk with me.

"No joke. I might as well give you those fishnets. Look better on you than they ever did on me," she noted, then shook her head. "Logan's gonna have to commit mass murder tonight."

"You always say that, but it never happens."

"It's a fucking miracle that it hasn't," she laughed. "Honestly, Andri, most of the guys here are lucky to be breathing the way Remy and Logan are about you... Where you headin'?"

"Nowhere. Just walking around. Avoiding math homework," I said nonchalantly.

"You're gonna fail that class."

"Correction. I am failing. D plus, if I'm lucky, right now," I said brightly, giving a sarcastic thumbs-up. Jubilee chuckled.

"You're something, Andraste."

"Could say the same for you. You do, after all, own a snake skin jacket _and _fishnets," I teased. Jubilee sent me a quick and cheeky grin.

"Only to show off my body. I know you only like me for it anyways," she joked. I rolled my honey-colored eyes. "Anyway, I'm gonna head back to the TV. OSU's getting their ass handed to them on a silver platter."

"Tape the hockey game!" I called after as she walked back towards the game room. She pumped her fist in the air.

"OSU! OSU!" she chanted. I figured she heard me but was caught up in the game at hand, so I let it slide. Logan would probably tape it. As if we didn't share enough in common, we also liked watching hockey whilst drinking an ice cold beer. Beer was something I'd quickly grown to love. Within my third week, Logan caved and handed me a bottle during our third time watching hockey. Every Sunday, now, it was a ritual. Sometimes Remy joined in, but rarely. He seemed to be so busy lately. I shook the thought from my head. He was just teaching. French took lesson plans and timing and patience, all of which Remy normally didn't have. Logan just seemed to have more time because he taught PE, and let's face it, that doesn't take much talent. All he had to do in that class was make sure that the kid's didn't use their powers in the games.

It was chillier when I entered the garage, and my senses were stormed by testosterone. It was weird, Logan noted, that I would have heightened smell, sight, and hearing like him when I didn't have his animistic traits. He could only guess that my mutation wasn't fully developed. For whatever reason, I knew there was a guy in the room. I turned my ipod so I could hear what was going on. Then a second wave of smell hit me. Estrogen. Mixed with the testosterone. The minute my music stopped I could hear murmuring.

Purple alert. Blue + pink, meaning boy + girl, for those of you not smart enough to figure it out yourselves.

"Remy..."

"Marie," he murmured back. There was a moan, and it definitely wasn't from Remy. I stalked over quietly, standing on the balls of my feet otherwise the heels on my boots would make noise. The smell got stronger as I got closer to the voices. Then I saw it.

Oh. My. God.

Remy had Rogue backed against a wall, and they were going at it. Well, not having sex, but they were making out like they planned on it. They were so into it they didn't even notice me.

Well, not until I yelled: "WHAT THE HELL?"


	15. Chapter 15

Warning: I make Pyro look a little different in my story, so just think of him as played by a non-existent actor. XD

* * *

"Andri, ecoute, please," Remy begged. I was rushing through the garage, trying to handle the serious shock my system was just dealt. Remy and Rogue had a thing, a very hot, passionate, horny thing.

Oh my God.

"I think I need to walk this one out," I said, still trying to process that my father figure was making out with my roommate only seconds before. Oh my God, oh my Gog, oh my _God._

"Andraste-" Rogue started. I put out a hand, whirling around to face the couple. Couple. Oh my God, Remy and Rogue were a couple. Well, sort of, anyway. I almost spazzed at the thought.

"I really need to just process this, okay? Unlike Logan, shocks like this need a little time with me. I'm going to walk this out for awhile, sleep on it, and then you can explain to me just exactly how the hell this all happened, okay?" I begged quickly, still freaking out. Remy nodded first, knowing me better than Rogue. He put his arm around her waist and lead her away, a pained sort of look on his face. He knew that my spazzing was a bad sign. Anytime Josie spazzed was usually a sign of something not sitting right with her, and it was probably one of the few traits I got from her. Rogue's heels clicked away, right next to the almost undetectable footsteps of Remy. Once I saw that they were really walking away and not just going back to making out, I walked out of the garage and into the gardens. It was cold, really cold, in fact, but I decided to stay outside. Maybe the cold air would clear my head.

Rogue and Remy. The very idea of it seemed awkward, weird, and in some really weird way, _fitting_. Even if the idea freaked me out to the point where I actually showed the few genes I shared with my mother, I had to admit that they did go well together, sort of, if their relationship was hypothetical. But their relationship was very, very real.

I wondered if Logan knew. No, probably not. He would have killed Remy by now. If Logan was protective of anyone by choice, it was Rogue. He was protective of me only because he had to be in the begining. I liked to think he was protective of me now because I'd gotten on his good side, but it had only been a month. There was no telling.

Rogue and Remy had been making out in the garage. The man who was basically my father in a non-biological sense was making out with my roommate. Granted, Rogue was at college level, and thus was pretty much in the clear to date who she wanted. She was nineteen, so it made it legal.

But oh my God, Remy and Rogue had been making out in the garage. The man who taught me how to swear in French and helped me take my first steps and gave me a lock-pick for a Christmas gift and who cheered me on at karate tournaments when I was younger was making out with Rogue, my sensible and well-raised roommate who helped me shop and who gave me good honest opinions on things without being over the top like Jubilee and who I _thought _had a boyfriend named Bobby Drake. Oh sweet Jesus, this was so _wrong_, but they seemed so _right _together.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I gave up on walking all together (the high heels were killing me), and sat down on a bench. I rested my knees together, feet apart, and rested my elbows on my lap, my head in my hands.

Oh my God, if they ended up having children, wouldn't I be like an aunt, or a second cousin or something close to an actual influence in their life? The very thought almost made me pass out. Remy having babies. Remy having babies with _Rogue._

"Christ," I murmured. This was not what I expected during my stay at Xavier's at _all._ And if she expected this sort of thing to happen, she expected it to happen with Jubilee, definitely not Rogue. I raised my head up, resting my chin in my hands, and looked up at the cloudy November night sky. A few stars peaked out here and there, and the sight was calming. I loved Remy, and I wanted to protect him. But from what? I knew Rogue wasn't the sort of girl who broke hearts for fun. Bobby was just clingy. It wasn't hard to tell why their relationship wasn't working, why she got involved with Remy. Maybe it wasn't that big of a shocking mystery after all. Even if it wasn't, it was still weird, awkward, and wrong on many levels...

I sat there for an hour, maybe less or maybe more, and I was leaning towards the middle of the Rogue+Remy argument when I heard a branch snap. It was just starting to snow when I turned my head, on high alert but not showing externally.

A boy, well, nineteen maybe, so maybe a guy (?), walked behind me, pulling out a cigarette. He had firey dark brown eyes, messy reddish brown hair, and a blank but heated stare as he looked at me, lighting up the fag with his thumb and then taking a long breath of the smoke. My eyes met his and we both held our stare. He leaned against a tree roughly five feet away, and I stayed on the bench, resting my cheek in my hand as we stared. It wasn't awkward, it wasn't strange. I might even go as far as comfortable. He didn't check me out, he just held my eyes with his, taking drags from his cigarette from time to time. We didn't talk, but we didn't really have to. After all, was there much to say anyway?

That was the first time I met John Allerdyce.


	16. Chapter 16

I was sitting in History class when I saw him the second time. Hank was talking about the Declaration of Independence with such a passion that I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to have a gay orgy with the founding fathers. I was staring out into space, my cheek resting against my palm, my one arm propped up on the desk and the other lying wrist up right next to its twin. I was bored out of my mind, and I felt really insecure because Jubilee insisted I wear cherry colored/flavored lip gloss that day. The result was boys staring (more than usual, and trust me, I wasn't trying to be cocky, I felt uncomfortable, not over-confident), and Logan asking me where the hell I'd gotten the stuff. That father-daughter confrontation had been anything but fun. Then again, there were confrontations with Logan that were fun...

"The Declaration was freedom written on paper," Hank declared, and I tuned out the rest. It was true, Hank had been a politician before he started teaching at Xavier's, but his passion for our country was getting little scary. But then again, I grew up with a Democrat for a mother. I was born to be skeptic of the government and challenge society.

"Hey Fur-ball," he said as he strolled into the class like he owned it. Kitty Pryde, the girl who sat next to me and who was also best friends with Jubilee, gasped like Satan himself had just walked in. Hank glared, along with the majority of the older students.

I just stared.

He swaggered down my row of desks, distressed jeans riding low on his hips as he juggled a ball of flame and then made it disappear. He smirked at me, and looked at my lips for a little longer than I considered comfortable. He let fingers trail down the inside of my forearm as he passed, calloused fingers sending little shocks all over the thin, sensitive skin. I bit my lip and John stared at me a second longer before turning to Hank. "Guess who's your new assistant teacher?" he asked, smirking from ear to ear.

"Oh hell _no!_" Kitty said, which was very un-Kitty-like. Everyone looked to her, and she shook her head, and stormed out of the room, walking right through the wall (which always unnerved me...). John raised his eyebrows and looked back at Hank.

"I think they like me, Boss."

* * *

"What do you mean John's back?!" Jubilee asked, anger rising as the conversation continued. Kitty winced, but she was just as angry, and Rogue was staring intently at the two, maybe just as angry but way better at hiding it.

Obviously, now was not the best of times to tell them that I shared a pretty hot stare-fest with him last night and thought about just randomly kissing him more than twice today and that I thought he was pretty hot.

"He's back, and teaching! Well, almost, but you get my point!" Kitty cried. "I even went to Storm to complain, but she's giving the bastard a second chance! _A second fucking chance!**"**_

Little fireworks went up around Jubilee, and Rogue gave a frustrated groan, burying her face in her pillow. I didn't know whether it was about Remy or John, but either way, Rogue was not exactly happy. I just sat on my bed, sharpening my knives. It was a good strategy, I had to say, because you couldn't tell if I was doing it because I planned on helping Kitty and Jubilee murder John or if I just liked keeping my knives sharp.

Jubilee and Kitty continued ranting for an hour, and then talking about drawing and quartering him on the main lawn when we ate our Chinese take-out. It was like we were planning a miniature war. By the time we went through all the shrimp fried rice, Kitty was already mentioning getting Logan and Piotr to hold him down while she gutted him like the pig he was.

Yep, not the best of times.

* * *

"I'm going for a walk," I told Jubilee, tugging on one of Rogue's jackets and tying a blood red scarf around my neck, then tugging my boots over my skinny jeans. Jubilee and Kitty raised their eyebrows.

"What for?" Kitty asked. I shrugged.

"Just feel like getting out. Get a little air that isn't filled with this guy John," I said nonchalantly, using the exit strategy I came up with not too long ago after we finished the fried ice cream. Jubilee rolled her eyes and gave an angry groan.

"I hate that guy!" she declared. Kitty nodded, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Dido! Now how should I gut him? Bottom up or-"

I managed to escape unnoticed. Score for me.

* * *

It was snowy outside, barely an inch on the ground, and colder than the night before. I was thinking about Remy and Rogue to fight off the hopefulness in my gut that I might see John around.

The key words were 'fight off'. I was losing.

"Hey Princess," he said, smooth voice wrapping around me and drawing me in. "Nice to see you again."

"I should be murdering you right now," I stated, turning to face him, arms crossed. He walked over to me, nonchalant with an air of arrogance that he obviously enjoyed having.

"And why is that?" he asked, walking closer.

"Jubilee's instructions," I told him, shrugging. Then I smiled at him. "You know, you might want to look out for Kitty. She says she's going to gut you bottom up."

"I'm loved, what can I say?"

The was the first time I talked to John Allerdyce.


	17. Chapter 17

Within a week, History had become my favorite class, and Logan was starting to notice more and more. The first night I had talked to John, he'd been out at the bar with Hank, knocking back a few beers without the constant annoyance of kids. It wasn't like John or I had spoken much, after he said he was loved, we exchanged names, and after that, we simply walked around, the silence comfortable.

Now I'd been going out every night for a week, the conversation was bleak, but I wasn't there to talk, or at least not extensively. I started to dress up a little, too. Just little things, bangles or heels or a more colored lip gloss.

But it really only takes little things for Logan to notice something's up.

"Where you headin' in such a hurry?" he asked as I practically raced down the hallway to get to History that morning. It was my first period class, and Logan knew that. He eyed me over once, and thank God, I toned it down because I thought he was on to me. Black long sleeved shirt, distressed skinny jeans, and Jubilee's light tan UGGs. Hair tossed into a bun, silver hoops in my ears, perfume. Jubilee was turning me into a total girl, but at that moment, or any other moment since the day I met him, my focus was mainly on John Allerdyce.

"History," I said with as little enthusiasm as possible, even though I was practically sprinting to get there to see him. "Forgot to turn something in. Got to get it in before the class starts."

"Uh-huh," Logan said, walking with me. "You sure you're not sneaking off to make out with some boy in the janitor's closet?" he pried. I snorted, trying to tell myself that the last thing I wanted to do was John was drag him into the janitor's closet and make out with him till the sun came up the next day even though I was lying to myself.

"You wish," I laughed. "Go to your PE class. I bet the kids are pulling each other's hair out already without you there to keep the peace."

"If I catch you foolin' around with anyone, you know Remy and I are going to kill him, right?" Logan said, looking at me seriously. The very thought of Remy made me wince, but I kept it to myself. I'd been so caught up thinking about John that I'd hardly given any though to the Remy/Rogue situation.

Well now at least I sort of understood what she felt like thinking about Remy twenty-four/seven.

"Yeah, yeah. Go make sure Jared isn't phasing through the walls to get the candy from the cafeteria again," I said, changing the subject back to his younger students, who were known to be quite a handful. He growled.

"That little-"

And with that, he was off. Score for me.

I started walking towards the class again, trying not to leave dents in the floor with my hurried pace. I made it about three steps closer to my destination before someone's cold hand latched on to my wrist.

It was Bobby.

"Hey, Andri?" Good Lord, the guy looked like a sick and helpless puppy. And this was just because Rogue was avoiding him still. I could only imagine what he would be like when he finally found out that Rogue was fooling around with the crafty Cajun French teacher...

"Bobby, I can't really talk right now," I said, starting to walk towards Hank's room. "Besides, shouldn't you be on bed rest? It's a miracle the thing didn't paralyze you," I stated, now secretly wishing it had. Or that I had at least sunk a knife into him. Something, anything, to get to see John before class.

"I just need to know about her," Bobby begged, following me, still gripping my wrist like life support. "Does she talk about me? Does she miss me? Does she want to talk this fight out? Does she cry about me? Does she hate me?"

"She hasn't said a thing about you," I said honestly, even though I kind of knew that was what Bobby was dreading. "She hasn't mentioned you since I broke your back. We're all really caught up with studying and whatnot right now," I said carelessly, not really caring at that point if my update was breaking his heart. "My advice? Leave her alone until she talks to you."

"But it's been weeks-"

"Too bad, Sad-boy," I said. "Love isn't free or easy. That's how it works. My suggestion for you is some Prozac and an appointment with someone who specializes in treating obsession-"

"I'm not obsessed! I love her!" Bobby defended.

"There's a fine line," I said, shaking him off. "Now I have to go. Please do me a favor and sulk somewhere else."

Bobby left, probably more wounded than he was when he got my attention. What did you want me to do? Comfort the guy who's back I broke two weeks ago?

Sorry, I'm a woman. I hold grudges.

Thanks to Bobby, I ended up being late to class, stumbling into the classroom and almost falling over. I grabbed on to the doorknob to steady myself. I managed to get my footing, but also ended up yanking the doorknob from the door. Hank gave me a glare, and John tried to hide his laughter.

"Way to go," Kitty applauded. I glared.

"Shut up."


	18. Chapter 18

"Great entrance today," he mocked as he came up besides me in the hall, arm brushing against mine as I made my way to my least favorite subject, Biology. I glared ahead of me, giving a twelve-year-old the scare of his life. Being near Logan's daughter was one thing, it was said. Having her glare at you meant sudden death.

That was what was said, anyway. It was all just a bunch of rumors. You'd think after a month and a half of me living at Xavier's, the kids would have gotten used to me. They hadn't, and in the back of my mind I kind of understood why. I mean, if there was a new girl who threw knives and who had super strength and who had nearly killed her friend's boyfriend when she was sleep deprived, I would be kind of scared, too.

But mainly I would be scared because that girl was so much like me.

"Oh come on, Princess," he said, using his pet name for me. "Don't get your panties in a twist. It was just one morning, right?"

"That's not what I'm worrying about," I said, keeping my voice low. "People are starting to notice, John."

"Notice what?" he asked, slinging his arm around my waist as we passed Bobby, who nearly had a heart attack upon the sight of my flushed face. "We're just two people who happen to be of the opposite sex. Big fucking whoop."

"It's not that simple," I said, though I wasn't exactly sure how it wasn't so simple myself. Somehow I could just feel that, if I was to have an actual relationship further than casual touches and talking with John Allerdyce, the reactions people would have would not be pretty, especially Logan's and Jubilee's. Kitty wanted to claw his eyes out regardless, so her reaction would pretty much be unsurprising, I imagined. Remy would kill though, that was for sure, unless I blackmailed him via his relationship with Rogue.

An evil thing, I admitted, but I wasn't raised to be a good little Catholic school girl now was I?

"Yes it is," John said stubbornly, anger starting to rise as his grip tightened slightly. "I want to kiss you and you want to kiss me. Tell me what is so fucking complicated about that."

"Since when did I say that I wanted to kiss you?" I asked, looking up at him with slightly narrowed eyes. He smirked, looking down at me.

"Princess, don't even try to deny it," he said cockily. I glared ahead once more, tearing my eyes away from his. "My point is, why do you think that this... whatever we have, will be complicated?"

"Well, for starters, pretty much everyone I know hates you," I said. He grinned.

"I try."

"Secondly," I continued, "Logan and Remy would kill you even if you were a nice little boy like Iceman and had a trust fund and a scholarship. Jubilee wants to kill you anyway, but somehow I think the fact that you're hitting on her new best friend would aggravate her intentions to new heights. And Rogue, well, I'm not sure what Rogue would do, but I think she pretty much sides with Logan on anything, so she'd probably want to maim you, too."

"Why are you so worried about what the people around you say?" he asked, point blank. I sighed.

"Because they're people I care about. I would take bullets for them, repeatedly, and if Jubilee was seeing a supposed good-for-nothing jackass, I would kill him, just like she plans on killing you," I said honestly. John gave a fake sulk.

"Good-for-nothing jackass?"

"I said_ supposed_ good-for-nothing jackass."

"Thanks, Princess. I feel so loved."

"You're welcome."


	19. Chapter 19

My father was on to John and I. It taken him three weeks to figure out that something really was going on, but he had figured out nonetheless, and now he watched me like a hawk. To make matters worse, as if Logan watching my every move wasn't bad enough, Logan had notified Remy of my alleged sneaking around.

So now I had a man who could pretty much smell me from a mile off and a man who could pick any lock and rob any bank in the world on my tale at pretty much all times. If I wasn't in hell, I would have been surprised.

"Where are you going?" Logan asked the minute I stepped out of my room with Jubilee on Saturday morning. He was in the favorite of all his poses, which was the 'don't fuck with me, kid' pose, where he stood with his arms shoulder width apart with his arms cross and murderous intent written all over his face.

"Ummmmm," I said, because I was brilliant and I didn't really want to tell Logan that we were going down to the basketball to make cat-calls at the shirtless guys. Normally, this wouldn't be something I would do, but it seemed that the longer I spent with Jubilee, the more in-tune I got with my hormones.

"Basketball court. Shirtless guys. All sorts of yummy," Jubilee said honestly, then added a "Me-ow!" for a good measure. I resisted the urge to slap my forehead with the open palm of my hand. Jubilee, however much I'd come to love her, could be somewhat naive when it came to Logan.

"No way in hell," he stated simply, eyes narrowed at me. I tried my best to look like my mother as I smiled, knowing that if I looked like Josie, he might just give.

"Aw, come on _Pops_," I said, batting my eyelashes. "It'll just be a little fun. It's not like I'm going to have sex with them."

"Yet," Logan growled. Jubilee and I looked at each other and then turned to Logan, using our last resort. I latched on to his arm and Jubilee dropped to her knees, hugging his shins.

"Pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplease," we took a deep breath of air, "ohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseohplea-"

"Fine!" Logan groaned. We let go immediately and zipped down the hallway towards the basketball courts, high-fiving each other like crazy as we left.

"Who rocks?" I said, slapping hands with her as we practically skipped away. Jubilee grinned.

"WE DO!"

--

"Well hey, Princess. I didn't think Daddy would let you play down here," John teased, walking to me, drenched in sweat and shirtless, after his team won the game. Jubilee was over flirting with Piotr, making the shy Russian blush, so I was safe to talk to John for a little bit.

"It took a little begging," I admitted, smiling. "Good game."

"Good cat-calls," he replied, smirking. I blushed and scowled.

"I hate Jubilee," I declared, even though I didn't, "she's turning me into such a girly girl."

"I don't mind," John said, looking at the tank top I had on under one of Logan's flannel shirts, which I stole a week earlier. I rolled my hazel eyes.

"You would like a low-cut black tank."

"I like the red bra you have under it, too," he added, smirking and raising his eyebrows, leaning over slightly to get a better look. I looked down and noticed that my bra was showing. I flushed crimson and fixed my shirt. John gave me a fake pout.

"Aw, come on, Princess, don't be so conservative!" he whined, slinging a sweaty arm around my shoulders and guiding me away from the court. "I was enjoying the view."

"I'm sure you were, but show time's over now," I declared, putting an around his bare back and try not to drool at the fact that he was absolutely hot in almost every single way. John looked at me, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"You excel at bitchiness."

"I try," I replied easily, giving a small shrug with my words. He just smirked at me and switched his arm so that it wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his side. Even sweaty, he smelled good, like cigarettes (obviously), something citrus, and gasoline. You'd think that the smells didn't combine well, but on him, they smelled amazing. I drifted off for a second, thinking about that, and a second later, he had me backed against a tree, smirking from ear to ear at my nervous expression once I figured out what he was doing.

"Nervous, Princess?" he taunted. I narrowed my eyes and straightened my back, looking him dead in the eye.

"No," I said, even though my stomach was churning with anxiety. His smirk widened.

"Sure you aren't," he said, and before I could retort, he put his lips on mine. At first he was obviously trying not to be too pressuring, but after a few seconds, the kiss got rougher. I had no idea what I was doing, having never kissed a guy in my fifteen years of life, so I just went with the flow and pressed my lips against and put my hands in the first convenient place: his hair. Hands on either side of my head, he nipped my bottom lip, and my eyes widened slightly. Okay, I had no idea where this was going, and no fucking clue as to what I was doing and-"

"You're an amazing kisser," he muttered when he broke away for a second. I looked at him and blushed from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes. He pulled away and then looked at me for a second, eyes squinting. Then he muttered, "Fuck."

"What?" I asked, trying to keep my breathing normal and my voice from going to an octave only audible to dogs and my father. John stared at me.

"That was your first kiss, wasn't it?" he asked, wincing. I nodded.

"Yeah..."

"Fuck," he swore, then turned and started to walk away. I grabbed his wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I should have known!" he muttered, kicking himself internally; I could tell. "Shit, why didn't you tell me you've never been with anyone else-"

"Would it make a difference if I had been? Think about it," I told him. "Really, if I'd ever been with anyone before you, would it change the fact that I like you, a lot, and that I want you to kiss me again?"

"Yes it would have changed it an- whoa, what?" John asked, processing my words. His face changed from a self-loathing scowl to a happy, over-confident smile in no time. "Really now?"

"I offered, didn't I?" I asked, crossing my arms because my little declaration of 'like' was embarrassing to me. I didn't like declaring feelings. It wasn't something I was good at. He shook his head, smiling as he leaned in again.

"You're so mean," he murmured. "But I love you for it."

"I know," I said before we kissed again. It lasted two seconds before all hell broke loose.

"ANDRASTE ETIENNE!"

"MERDE!"

"GIRL, YOU BETTER NOT BE DOING WHAT I THINK YOU'RE DOING!"

"Here they come," John muttered, looking into my eyes with intense amusement. I glared.

"Shit."


	20. Chapter 20

Oh my God, this was bad.

Bad. _Bad_. **_Bad_**.

"YOU BETTER START EXPLAINING YOURSELF, CHICA!" Jubilee declared, one hand on her hip and the other waving around and making gestures that signified that she was not the happiest girl in the universe at the current moment. Logan was pretty much bristling, considering John had his arm around my waist like it was the most natural and unimportant gesture in the world. Remy was swearing in French, pointing at me and then looking to the sky and shouting and then glaring at John and then looking to the sky again before the cycle repeated itself. Rogue attempted to calm him down but failed epically. When she realized that calming him down wasn't working, she stood there and simply gave me a look that said 'Really, honey, you fell for _him_? Out of all the guys you could have possibly kissed to make Logan livid, it had to be _John_. Oh sugar, you're dead. Honestly? Just _wow_, sugar, just _wow_'.

I swallowed nervously and unconsciously gripped my own wrist, which I soon felt breaking under the pressure. Super strength is a bitch.

"Who, me? I'm just standing here innocently," I declared. Bad time to be a smart-ass, it turned out. Logan let out a livid, feral growl, glaring with a hate fueled by ten thousand burning suns at John.

"Don't give me that shit, Andraste," he spat, and I winced. Oh, full name time. This was not good at all. "And get your mitts off my daughter before I slice you!"

"You'll slice him anyway," Jubilee snorted. Logan nodded gruffly, not even remotely trying to be controlled or calm it seemed, and John let his hands slide away slowly from their place on me. I fought off a shiver because now was really, really not the time or place to be slightly turned-on.

Nope. Now was not a good time at all.

"So, really, chica. You wanna explain to me just what the hell you're doing with this betraying bastard?" Jubilee asked, tone harsh and probably unforgiving. I liked to think that I could take them all because I had super strength and a massive healing ability, but I was kidding myself. I could barely take Logan down on my own. Something told me adding Jubilee and Remy to that fight would make it a million times harder.

"I was... um," I said, "kissing... him?"

"Oh, you are so dead," Logan seethed, storming towards John. I stepped in front of him even though I knew full well what John could do with fire and that he probably didn't need my protection unless he ran out of light fluid. Remy followed Logan suite, seething behind him as he continued to mutter French profanities sharply and consistently.

"I cannot believe you," Remy stated angrily. "Really, Andri?! Running around as a minor! Kissing a smart-ass traitor! Didn't your mama raise you any better?"

"My mom raised me well. Don't you even start because you raised me, too!" I shot back. "And you should be talking about relationships, Remy! Running around _with _a minor! Kissing my roommate! WHO HAD A BOYFRIEND WHEN YOU MET HER!"

Hell yeah. If I was going down for kissing someone I enjoyed kissing, so was Remy. A bitchy move on my part, maybe, but he's the one who should have known better than to tell me off for a relationship.

Remy stopped, muttered in French, and backed off. Obviously, Remy wouldn't be killing John today. I hoped that it was because he saw a little of himself in John (Lord knew they were alike in a lot of ways) and not because he thought Logan should get the first kill.

"You what?" Logan asked, suddenly whipping around to face Remy and Rogue. Score for me. Rogue was like a daughter to Logan, and she certainly turned up before I did. Logan stalked over to Remy and a shouting match ensued while Rogue blushed and stood behind Remy, clutching to his trench coat like a safety blanket.

Another bullet dodged. For now. That left one more.

"Jubes," I said, turning to her. Her arms were crossed, and she gave me a 'this better be good' look. "Look, I know you don't like him-"

"Don't like him?" she snorted, glaring at him.

"Okay, you hate him," I said, wincing slightly. "But you hating him isn't really going to change anything, and blowing him up or taking him down to the Potomac to let him 'swim with the fishes' isn't going to do anything but make me angry," I said steadily. "I know you're only trying to protect me from someone you don't trust, and I respect that because I would do the absolute same for you, regardless if they were a traitor or not. But... let him live. I know he can be an asshole-"

"Hey!"

"And that he's a smart-ass and all of that, but I like him. A lot," I said, blushing slightly. "And if you're my friend at all, not that I've known you that long anyway, you'll respect my decision, or at least not kill him. Please?"

Jubilee knew I usually didn't use words to settle things. She knew that when I did, I hardly even used the word 'please'. She knew that guys were a rare thing to me, and she knew that I really did like him, otherwise he'd be embedded in the ground with all of his ribs broken. She glared at him for a second, and then looked at me.

"I better damn love you," she snarled, shaking her head but letting her arms drop before she swaggered away in a huff of understanding and anger. I turned to John who smirked at me.

"You know, for someone who really likes me, you sure do call me an asshole a lot."

"I show my love in unique ways," I said, shrugging but smiling. We smiled and then looked over at Logan and Remy, who were now rolling around on the ground beating the shit out of each other. Rogue was long gone, probably inside hiding or something along those lines. John and I winced in unison as flashes of magenta energy went flying and slicing sounds could be heard. John raised his eyebrows and whistled as we continued to watch, rocking back on his heels.

"So, you want to grab some coffee?"

"Sure."


	21. Authors Note PLEASE READ Important!

Okay, so, I'm really, really not happy with how this story is going. I turned Andraste into a typical Mary-Sue, my writing sucks in this story, and I don't think my story is realistic at all.

THUS, I'm going to re-write the entire story. Granted, it might be a few weeks, but I will rewrite it, after I publish a few more chapters of Vanished, It All Started With Duck Pajamas, and my new story, How to Burn. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but this story has been driving me crazy for quite sometime, and I would like to give my loyal readers better than what I've dished out in this catastrophe I call a story.

it'scurtainsforyou.


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